Challenges of a Warrior
by CompanionWolf12
Summary: Emalia, the Dragonborn, is on a quest to vanquish Alduin. But Emalia doesn't feel she is strong enough yet, so she turns to the Companions, a group of honor-bound warriors with unknown secrets. She finds a welcoming family, a home, friends and love... Warning! Main questline spoilers and Companions questline spoilers! Rated T for violence and cussing!
1. First Meetings

**Hi people! CompanionWolf here! Okay, I'm new to this site and stuff but I've been working on this fanfiction for about a month now. I'm in love with the Companions, so I couldn't resist the chance in writing this! It started off as messy scribbles in a small notebook, and advanced into a document on my laptop. I don't own any of the characters except Emalia (my Dovahkiin). I'll warn you guys now that my chapters tend to be pretty short, but I type fast when I get inspiration! Okay, I'll shut up. It's now story time!**

**WARNING!: This fanfic has spoilers about the main questline and the Companions questline! **

Emalia shivered as the winter chill of Skyrim caressed her skin, stealing the warmth from her blood. Her breath was visible in the cold air. Snow dotted her leather armor as she trudged through the snowy landscape. Ever since her capture in Helgen, she had been traveling through the frosty land of Skyrim. Her pointed ears and slanted eyes showed she was an elf, but her tanned skin told beings of her Bosmer blood. Wood Elf was her true race. Despite being a foreigner, she had the power of the ancients that lived in Skyrim. The Voice. Emalia was also the fabled dragonborn, fated to rid the land of the evil dragon Alduin. There were many who, for some reason, wanted her dead. Forcing her to often go into hiding. No where she went was safe. Her sword had been stained by the blood of many assassins who hunted her, but had never cut into the flesh of the innocent. Emalia went by a code of honor, one that not many abided by... The cold winds were not something she had ever experienced in the country of Valenwood, nor were dragons. She had just wanted to be an adventurer, so she wondered into Skyrim without knowing that the land was at war.

Emalia had been captured by an Imperial ambush and was almost executed. A dragon had attack at the last moment. At first she had believed that the dragon had come to save her, but now she knew that it had actually come to kill her. Emalia shuddered at the thought. She was really starting to get cold now, why had she not thought about the chill before? How stupid of her to head all the way up to Winterhold without considering what it would be like at the northernmost tip of Skyrim. An uncontrollable shiver went up her body. She cursed at herself for being so stupid. Emalia sat on the soft ground and curled up into a ball, she felt so cold... Colder than ever. She remembered a winter night from her childhood, when she had complained to her mother about it being cold. Her mother had scoffed and told her if she thought she was cold, then she should go to Skyrim. Emalia knew now that this was how it was like to be truly freezing... With frozen fingers, she fumbled for her tinderbox. But the tips of her fingers were so numb, she couldn't feel anything. Emalia shoved them under her arms, but it was no use. Emalia sighed and uttered one weak word. "Yol..."

From her mouth, a small gout of fire burst. It sputtered out immediately, for there was nothing to burn. Emalia cursed at the sky goddess Kynareth. She curled up into a small ball, a feeble attempt to keep warm. What a pathetic dragonborn she was... Falling prey to the weather! Emalia's face stung as wind sent needles of ice through the air. She sneezed and quickly found her nose blocking up from the cold. Another uncontrollable shiver went down her body once more. She could feel sickness coming on in seconds. Snow covered her face as the faint snowfall intensified into a thick blizzard. Emalia shouted at the sky, in frustration and without magic. She shook the snow out of her hair, which was now dripping wet, and let out a shuddering breath. She thought she was going to be frozen to death, out in this frosty wasteland. Over the whistling winds, she heard a growl. Emalia turned fearfully to see a large saber toothed cat standing nearby, watching her... Seeing if she would be a good meal for it. Emalia just bow her head down. Knowing that she probably wouldn't survive long. The beast padded closer, baring it's teeth at Emalia. Whatever sickness had gotten it's grip around Emalia's body, it was certainly strong enough to sap all of the strength out of her limbs. The saber toothed cat leaped at her, but as if by magic, an arrow zipped through the air and sunk into the saber toothed cat's neck. It dropped in front of Emalia. She did not know why, but tears slowly trickled down her cheek. Even though the beast was attempting to kill her, it was only doing that to survive. Her tears froze on her cheeks, another severe shiver went down her body again. Emalia doubled over and threw up what she had eaten in the morning. She fumbled in her pouches for medicine for a simple fever, but found none. But the gods wished for her to stay alive, voices could be heard somewhere nearby. "Ria! I was going to go for it!"

Hunters. They must be! If they were hunting the saber toothed cat. "Aela gave me the job too!"

There was some laughing and the sound of boots walking over snow. Through the thick snowy winds, Emalia could make out the figures of two people. The taste of saltiness coated Emalia's mouth and she leant over and vomited once again. The sound of walking stopped. "What was that?"

The hiss of a sword being unsheathed echoed through the wind. "Who's there?" Asked a man's voice.

Emalia attempted to answer, but her head started pounding and her vision went shaky. A hand touched her chalky skin. "Hey, you! Are you okay?"

Emalia shook her head. "N-no..."

* * *

Her stomach clenched and she doubled over as if she was going to vomit again, but she had no more food within her body. Her vision swam before fading into feverish dreams.

Emalia opened her eyes, she had a damp cloth over her forehead and her skin was covered in sweat. The sky was dark and the snowing had stopped, but the ground was still coated in frost. Emalia could hear the crackling of a fire, she was at a camp. She still felt awful, but not as bad as before. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Ah... You're awake. How are you feeling?"

Emalia looked up, across the fire was a young man with dark hair and luminous silver eyes. He was, in her opinion, quite handsome. He wore strange armor edged with wolf fur, across his back was a steel greatsword. The make of the sword was different to an ordinary steel sword though... "I feel better than before, where is this?"

"Just a little walk away from where we found you."

Emalia tilted her head. "We?"

A woman ran into the camp. "I'm back! Oh, hey there!"

The man looked up at the woman and smiled. "This is my friend Ria, or more like Shield Sister."

Emalia had heard this term before, her eyes widened. "You're a member of the Companions... I've heard about you!"

The man smiled. "I'm one of the higher members of the group, I'm Vilkas. What's your name?"

"Emalia, I'm... I'm just a wanderer." She lied.

Vilkas narrowed his eyes. "_Just_ a wanderer? I'm sure I've heard your name somewhere."

Emalia sighed. "Alright, alright... I'm actually the Dragonborn."

She saw Ria gasp. "You're joking..." She whispered.

"Shall I demonstrate a shout for you?"

Ria squeaked. "Don't shout me apart!"

Ah! Emalia and her big mouth... She knew very well that the leader of the rebellion, Ulfric Stormcloak, had used a shout to rip the High King apart! "No, I won't do that. I was just being sarcastic, but I really can use my Voice."

Ria sighed in relief. Vilkas tilted his head slightly. "Hm... You seem like a strong warrior, you should come to Jorrvaskr and test your strength!"

Emalia laughed, unsure of what Vilkas had just said. "The snow took me down in seconds!"

"A man is a different opponent."

Emalia took in these words. "True..."

Ria laughed. "The Companions need more woman!"

Emalia smiled. "I guess I'll consider it, Jorrvaskr is nearby Dragonsreach, right?"

"Yep!" Ria chirped

Emalia laughed. "Okay, well... I might be heading there soon, so I might drop by to see."

She collected her stuff and waved. "I've got some things to do, so I'll see you sometime!"

**And there you go! Chapter one! I really hope you enjoyed that! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, I've never had people give me any real feedback on this fanfic so I don't know if people love it to bits. Okay then, until next update!**


	2. Alduin's Bane

**Wow! Quite a few views in one day! I'm really happy right now! Now I give you Chapter 2! I apologize if some of the fighting scenes aren't completely mind blowing, it's just the start. They get better as the story progresses! Yeah, okay I've talked enough... And so continues the tale of the Dragonborn, Emalia!**

The golden case slid open, revealing an ancient scroll. The Elder Scroll. Emalia took it gently in her hands and ran a fingertip down the intricate carvings that ran down the length of the scroll. It was finally in her hands... She could learn how to defeat the terrible dragon Alduin with this! She had risked her life, delving into the most secluded location in the whole of Skyrim, Blackreach, just to find this very scroll! The Dwemer had built various mechanical guards, the had taken the lives of many... Even one of Emalia's friends, a dark elf named Jenassa and a nord named Lydia. The dwarven ruins were inhabited by horrifying creatures called Falmer, the ancient blinded Snow Elves. Taken as slaves by the dwarves ages ago, they became blind in the darkness which the dwarves had become accustomed to. When their masters disappeared without a trace, they took over the vast networks of dwarven citadels and killed any who dared to venture in. Emalia had risked life and limb to come down to the deepest reaches of the earth to retrieve the Elder Scroll. She smiled, Vilkas was right... Snow was truly a very different enemy! A different opponent in a different battle. The eerie silence in the grand chamber was rather strange, haunting even! She made her way quickly to the lift that would take her out to the surface once more. The thrum of strange energy echoed in the small chamber as it rose up to the surface. Emalia thought of the hardships that she had endured through, was she prepared to kill the World Eater? Emalia took in a deep breath, this dragon would be unlike any dragon she had faced before... Stronger... Smarter... Evil. In her mind, she felt scared. In her heart, she knew she could do it.

* * *

"Well done, _Dovahkiin_..."

The dragon Paarthurnax watched as Emalia walked up the path. He lived at the top of the Throat of the World. The night was calm and beautiful. Aurora borealis shimmered purple, green and blue in the sky. The moon shone in the sky amidst the sea of stars. A gentle wind blew through the night air. Paarthurnax flicked his tail. "It seems you have found the _Kel_... The Elder Scroll. Take it to the Time Wound, open it. Let it show you the way to defeat Alduin."

Emalia obeyed the wise dragon and walked over to the spot where the very air and light seemed to bend unnaturally, this was the Time Wound. Emalia unrolled the scroll, a blazing light shone from the many words written on it. The light blinded Emalia for a moment, then her mind was whisked away to the ancient past... She stood in the same spot as before. All seemed slightly different. The Sky was pale red the corpses of men and dragons were scattered everywhere. Emalia immediately recognized this as the age of the Dragon War. The distant roar of a dragon echoed in the sky. Three figures, two men and a woman, walked into view. "Where is Alduin? Is the beast going to show himself?" Yelled the woman.

"Patience, Gormlaith." Said the older man.

The sky suddenly went dark, a black shadow went over the three people. "Foolish mortals..." Hissed a deep voice.

The World Eater himself swooped down from the sky. "Now!" Shouted the one called Gormlaith.

The warriors waited until Alduin swooped down again, once Alduin did, they bellowed. "_Joor... Zah Frul!_"

The words echoed in Emalia's mind, their meaning became know to her. She now knew that it was the fabled shout Dragonrend. It's words thrummed in her mind, now Emalia knew it's true meaning. She could use it in battle. Blue light enveloped Alduin, and and invisible force dragged him down to the ground. The dragon growled in terrible rage. "What is this? Your feeble attempt to kill me? Hah! Fools! I am still alive, and will stay that way for all eternity!"

Gormlaith drew her sword. "Then let me make this the end of you, worm!"

The valiant warrior charged at the mighty dragon. Her blade sliced through Alduin's thick scales. Alduin screeched and clamped his jaws around Gormlaith's chest, crushing her vital organs. Gormlaith's screams stopped as Alduin threw her against the rocks, her body was broken and unmoving. Not even a faint rising and falling of breath remained, Alduin had killed her. The younger man took out his battle axe "I will destroy you for killing her!"

The older man put a hand on his shoulder. "Hakon, don't. Alduin will kill you, as he did to Gormlaith."

"What better plan do you have Felldir? There isn't any other way."

Felldir shook his head. "Oh, but there is."

He took out the Elder Scroll, Hakon's eyes widened. "The Elder Scroll? This is dangerous!"

Felldir shook his head. "It might be the only way..."

He unrolled the scroll and started chanting in an ancient language, Alduin was enveloped in golden light and disappeared. Hakon put away his axe, Felldir sighed in relief. "It is over.."

Emalia's vision clouded, and she was back in the present. "Did you learn the shout?" Asked Paarthurnax.

"Yes, what does it do exactly? I saw the heroes using it, they seemed to manage to make Alduin land... Is that all it can do?"

"It makes a _dov_... Mortal..."

Emalia knew what Paarthurnax was talking about. Alduin was immortal, and this shout would make him mortal! A deep roar echoed up in the sky above. Emalia looked up just in time to see a dark shadow swoop by, at that moment she felt both triumphant and fearful. Alduin had come... Paarthurnax's strong voice thundered. "You are too late Alduin! The _Dovahkiin _knows your weakness, for she has read the _Kel_ and learnt of Dragonrend!"

Alduin's deep laughter bounced off the side of the mountain. "You may think you have won, but you have not. None can kill the mighty Alduin!"

Storm clouds swirled in the sky, flaming meteors started falling. Emalia's heart beat accelerated. It was just like when she was about to be executed... The memory was fresh in her mind. Burnt corpses lying on the ground, woman and children fleeing for their lives, brave men being engulfed in flames, the smell of burnt flesh lingering in every corner, stone walls crumbling, homes beings destroyed in front of her very eyes... Chaos... Emalia steeled her nerves. "I'll send you to your death, Alduin! I swear it!" She growled menacingly.

Alduin hovered in the sky. "Ah... Another foolish mortal to fall prey to my Thu'um."

Emalia took you her bow, she faced the dark dragon and bellowed the shout Dragonrend. "_Joor... Zah Frul!_"

Alduin plummeted to the ground, he righted himself and attempted to fly. His attempts were useless. Emalia pulled an arrow back and let it fly, she shot Alduin in one glowing eye. The dragon let out an enraged roar and finally managed to take to the skies. "Even though you have learnt the shout, you may never defeat me here!"

Alduin flew further and further, until he was out of sight. Paarthurnax sighed. "He is right, _Dovahkiin_, even if you know the shout he can't be defeated here. Alduin has travelled to Sovengarde, he shall devour the souls of the dead to gain power... But none except his minions know where his portal to Sovengarde is."

Emalia pondered on what Paarthurnax had said. "If you said that only his minions know... doesn't that mean that we could trap a dragon?"

Paarthurnax chuckled. "Ah... Exactly what I was thinking of... Dragonsreach was the prison to the dragon Numinex long ago, I visited him once... Poor soul... The dragon didn't remember his name anymore. But it would be the perfect location to trap the dragon, you should go ask the Jarl if you could trap a dragon. But you have already done so much for us. Alduin will probably hide in Sovengarde for a long time gathering his strength, you will have to become stronger as well. Take a rest from your destiny and become stronger."

Emalia nodded, she had become a bit tired of doing all of these quests to defeat Alduin. "I'm going to do some things which I feel like I want to do, to help me become more of a formidable opponent." Emalia bowed her head. "Good bye Paarthurnax, until we meet again."

"Till we meet again, _Dovahkiin_."

**Chapter 2 for you guys! Hope you liked it! Please review and like. Chapter 3 will be coming soon featuring my favourite Shield bro XD**


	3. You're the New Member of the Companions!

**Emalia's adventure continues! I didn't make this part EXACTLY like the game, some of it is off memory and some of it is just pulled out of my head. I had a friend help me with one bit, near the end, so credit to her for the idea! Okay, where were we? Ah yes! Emalia's gonna join the Companions!**

Emalia pushed open the heavy doors which served as an entrance to Whiterun. The sun was just setting, making shadows long. She walked through the paths that streaked through the city until she made it to a grand tree. Emalia turned to a path to the right, steps led to a beautifully built hall. Jorrvaskr. A fluttering feeling took over her. Emalia skipped up the steps and gently pushed the doors to the hall open. Some people were in the hall, talking about the latest happenings as well as their time and training with the Companions. "Who are you?" Asked a female voice.

Emalia turned to see a woman dressed in ancient armor standing behind her. She recognized her from a long time ago, when she had escaped from her first encounter with a dragon. This woman had been fighting a giant with two other people. "I'm Emalia, I was wondering if I could join the Companions."

The woman smiled. "Ah, a brave adventurer! Well, I'm not the one in charge. The old man Kodlak is the one who decides who can join or not. He should be downstairs. He has a way of seeing the fire in your soul."

Emalia thanked her and walked down to the lower level of the hall. Her heart was thumping, would this Kodlak accept her? She walked down to the end of the hall to a closed door. Within she could hear hushed whispers, Emalia knocked on the door. "Come in." Said a voice which most likely belonged to an old man.

Emalia opened the door. There was a table in the corner where two men sat. Emalia blushed when she recognized one as Vilkas, the older man at the other side of the table must be Kodlak. "Oh... A new face." Kodlak observed.

"Oh, I was looking to join the Companions... Could I?"

Kodlak raised his eyebrows. "Hm... let me have a look at you..."

Kodlak stared deep into Emalia's eyes, as if looking for a spark of bravery or the soft glow of wisdom. "Yes, you seem strong. The fire within you crackles and glows bright with true courage, bravery, wisdom and power. Now, this is Vilkas. He will test you skill with the blade and perhaps the bow out in the yard."

Emalia smiled. "Okay."

Vilkas stood up and left the room in silence. Kodlak just laughed. "If he doesn't agree with me, then he will be like that."

Emalia laughed with Kodlak, she decided that she wouldn't mention her previous encounter with Vilkas. She thanked Kodlak and left the room to join Vilkas in the training yard.

* * *

"The old man said for me to test your skill. Come, fight me. With your sword, not your bow."

Emalia huffed in annoyance. She drew her sword and held it in front of her. "Fine..."

The two circled each other. Emalia smiled. "Do you doubt my skill with the blade?"

"Maybe..."

Emalia lashed out, but Vilkas blocked her strike with his shield. The impact jarred her hand and the blade clattered to the ground. "Now I doubt your skill with the blade." Vilkas teased.

Emalia knew in an instant the he was trying to get her annoyed, but she was told a long time ago that in order to win a fight, you have to have a cool head... Emalia picked her sword up with her aching hand, she tried her best to ignore the pain. Emalia bounced ever so slightly on her feet. She had visualized the move she was going to make next and was thinking of a strategic way not to plunge her sword into Vilkas. After a few moments, Vilkas lashed out at her. Emalia ducked under the blade and jumped behind Vilkas, her blade flew out. She jumped back, looked at the edge of her sword and gasped. The edge near the top had a small smear of blood. She looked up in panic to see that she had only cut Vilkas slightly across his cheek. "Well... You did good, but you still need more practice."

He wiped the blood away. "I will tell Kodlak that you've done well, but I must ask a favor of you. Will you take my sword to Eorlund? I need it to be sharpened. Go up to the Skyforge to see him. Be careful with this though, it's worth a lot more than you!"

Emalia rolled her eyes and held her hand out. The heavy weight of the steel sword was eased into her hand. Emalia turned to face the large statue of an eagle, it's stone wings outstretched. The red glow of embers reflected off the smooth carved feathers of the eagle. Emalia gently brushed her fingers against the rock wall that held the Skyforge high, her fingers then got caught in a crack. Emalia stepped back to see the shape of a stone door carved into the rock. She attempted to push it open, but it wouldn't move. Emalia decided that her attempts were fruitless, and she continued walking to the stairs that led to Skyforge. When the stairs flattened out, she found herself standing at the foot of a huge forge. From the coals, little spurts of flames licked the stone rim. Many weapons lay littered on a single stone table next to the forge. An old man sat over a metal work bench, hammering out a shield from cooling metal. Emalia cleared her throat, trying to make herself known. "Um... Eorlund?"

The old man turned and smiled. "Ah... You must be the new recruit! I heard the clashing of blades from down below, welcome to the Companions. What brings you to my forge?"

Emalia held Vilkas's sword out. "Well... Vilkas told me to bring his sword to you so that it could be sharpened."

Eorlund stood up and took the sword from Emalia. "Thank you. There is just one thing you should know about the Companions, no one tells anybody what to do. There is no leader, only the Harbinger. You don't have to do what they tell you to all of the time."

Emalia nodded slowly, but a question rose. "But... If there's no leader, who keeps the order?"

The old blacksmith chuckled. "I already said, the Harbinger just gives us advice and wisdom. We are all equal in the Companions, Kodlak gives us advice in times of hardship. Every man is his own. Every woman, her own"

It finally clicked into Emalia's mind, the order of the Companions was one that she immediately liked. No leader, just an advisor, and all are equal. "Okay, well I need to be going now."

"Wait," Emalia turned, "Would you take this shield to Aela? I've been crafting a shield for her and I need to get back to my wife, our son has gone missing and she is in mourning for we fear he might be dead..."

Emalia sighed. "Didn't you just tell me _not _to be a slave?"

Eorlund shot her a look. "This is a favor, not a errand. Help an old man, would you?"

With a small sigh, Emalia gently took the shield and bowed her head. "Sorry... I'll see you some time."

* * *

Emalia gently knocked on the a door, one of the new recruits had pointed her to this door to find Aela. "Come in."

She slowly pushed the door open and peeked her head around it, a man that she hadn't seen before and Aela stood talking. "Ah, so you must be the new comer! I heard that you gave Vilkas quite a thrashing." Aela chuckled.

The other man laughed heartily. "Don't let Vilkas catch you saying that!"

Emalia smiled, she then held out the shield that she had been carrying. "Eorlund told me to give you this shield."

Aela took the shield and caressed the smooth steel. "I've been waiting for this shield for a while! Thank you for bringing this to me."

The other man smiled. "You've done well, recruit, I think it's about time that we welcomed you to the Companions. If you didn't know before, I am Skjor. Now how about you take a little look around. Come back to me when you're done exploring."

Emalia nodded enthusiastically. She waved good bye and walked out of the door. She turned a corner and bumped into someone. "Oh! Sorry!" She squeaked.

Emalia looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey Vilkas!" She examined his face and armor. "How did you heal that cut so fast? There's no trace of blood or anything... And how on earth did you change so fast into completely different armor?"

"I'm not Vilkas... I'm his brother, Farkas..."

Emalia blinked slowly, she was so puzzled. Farkas looked almost identical to Vilkas... "Um... Oh..."

Farkas smiled. "You're a new recruit, aren't you? Usually everyone call tell the difference. Skjor says I have the strength of Ysgramor, and that my brother has his smarts."

Emalia nodded. "I see... Okay! I'll see you around!"

**There's chapter 3! Please review and like, stuff like that. Things get a bit more exciting in the next chapter, so look out for that!**


	4. Blushes and Bad Lies Can't Hide Love

**Oh boy, this chapter was rather... awkward to write I could say... Putting that matter aside, for this chapter I kinda made up a 'magical' way of how the skill trees work in Skyrim! I would really like to hear what you think about it, so I can see if it's a good idea for future fanfictions. Okay, time to continue the tale!**

A sigh escaped Emalia as she plonked down onto her new bed, she felt that this was the best way to loosen up before the life threatening battle that lay ahead of her. The fight with Alduin loomed before her... The thought of possibly dying made her lips quiver in fear. She put her face into the pillow and closed her eyes, Emalia just hoped that horrible nightmares wouldn't take over her mind... But sleep wouldn't take her. Emalia lay awake, she couldn't sleep. Emalia sighed and quietly walked down the hall, her footsteps echoed dully through the long corridor. Soft snoring could be heard from the other rooms. Yet some rooms were completely silent. Not even the slightest sound of breathing. Once she got to the end of the corridor, Emalia gently pushed the doors open to get to the main hall. She crossed to the door that led to the training yard, the door creaked as she eased it open slowly. The cool night air eased her fears. Emalia dragged a chair from the sheltered area of the training grounds and placed it down in the middle of the training grounds, facing away from the hall. Emalia stared up at the sky. Her eyes half closed. She felt as if she were soaring through the skies, spiraling around the stars. She drifted over to the constellation of an archer, the stars that formed it glowed bright except for three. Emalia reached out to touch a dim star. It was as if she was reading a book about the finer techniques of archery. Knowledge poured into her subconscious mind. Then she heard a whisper, somewhere... Someone was calling her name... "... Malia... Em... Emali... Emalia!"

Emalia jolted in her the chair. She spun around to see Vilkas standing behind her. "By Ysmir, why are you out here during this unholy hour of the night?" He yelled.

"I couldn't sleep..." Emalia looked up at the sky.

She smiled at the sight of the beautiful moon, full and luminous... The stars glittered in the sky, giving the night beauty. "Isn't this night amazing."

"Leave. Now." Vilkas snarled.

His eyes blazed with anger, but deep within his gaze Emalia could see terrible pain. "Vilkas, what's wrong?" She asked gently.

The Companion doubled over, breathing hard. "Leave!"

Emalia stood up from the chair and backed away, something wasn't right... But she knew better than to linger. Emalia turned and ran back into her room. As she ran, she felt scared. What was wrong with Vilkas all of a sudden? But strangely... She felt sad that she could do nothing to help...

* * *

Emalia woke up the next morning, her eyelids felt sandy and sticky. She felt so tired. She yawned and stretched, Emalia felt the stiffness leave her spine as she heard little cracks from her spine. She breathed out in relief and flexed her toes before setting them onto the cold floor. She slipped her boots on and adjusted her armor straps. Emalia stood up and walked up to the main hall, she swiped a loaf of bread and sat down on a chair by the roaring fire. There was a gentle tap on her shoulder, Emalia turned to see Ria. "So you did join! Welcome! Hey, by any chance, have you see Vilkas? I was supposed to have a lesson with him, but I can't find him anywhere!"

"No, I haven't seen him since last night... Would you like me to look for him?"

Ria nodded. "Yes, thank you!"

Emalia shoved the rest of the bread into her mouth in a very un ladylike manner and stood up. Emalia jumped down the stairs and pushed the doors to the sleeping quarters. It was all very quiet, Emalia got to the end of the corridor and put her ear to one of the doors. Soft breathing could be heard from within. Emalia knocked on the door softly, but there was no answer. She knocked a little harder than before, but there was still no reply. Emalia sighed and leant on the door, she decided to resort to shouting. "Vilkas? Get up! Ria's waiting for you to teach her swordplay and you haven't showed up yet!"

Emalia stood by the door for a while, but still no one came to answer the door. Becoming impatient, Emalia opened the door. Everything in the room was neatly put away into drawers, in bookshelves and on top of desks. Vilkas's sword was propped up against the wall, pieces of his armor were scattered around the room as well. Emalia slowly turned and her face turned completely red. Vilkas was lying on his stomach on his bed, still fast asleep. He was wearing beige trousers and nothing else. Her heart beat faster as her eyes gazed at Vilkas's lean, muscular form. Her face was hot with embarrassment and she quickly spun around. She was just about to leave when Vilkas woke up. "What do you want?" He moaned, his face still buried in the pillow.

"Ria was looking for you, she said you were going to give her a lesson."

Vilkas's head jerked up, he swore loudly. "Shit! Um... Just go tell her I'll be there soon!"

Emalia nodded and quickly walked out of the room, she felt so embarrassed and was glad that she could get out of that room. She got up to the training area and ran up to Ria. "Yeah, Vilkas will be here soon."

Ria looked at her and tilted her head. "Why are you blushing?"

"Just forget it!" Emalia snapped.

She went over to a small look out point nearby the training grounds, she looked over the side and looked up to the top of the Throat of the World. Squinting to try and see the summit. Watching for any sign of a dragon up there... "What are you looking at?"

Emalia turned to see Ria standing behind her. "You're mind seems to be going on a stroll, and you seem to be staring at something up there. What's on the mountain?"

"Well..."

"Sorry I'm late." Vilkas said.

Emalia turned around, it looked very much like Vilkas had quickly strapped on all of his armor. Even then, Emalia started to blush. As quickly as she had spun around, Emalia turned back to face the mountain again hoping that no one saw her blush. Her mind kept willing her to turn around, but she gazed at the summit of the mountain once more. Emalia lay her head against the side of the look out point, she breathed out slowly and continued to stare at the mountain. But after a while she turned around and slumped against the wall. She saw Ria wave good bye to Vilkas, she watched as Vilkas walked away and went back to Jorrvaskr. Ria turned around and skipped over to Emalia, Ria sat down next to her and gave Emalia a playful shove. "You like him, I can tell."

"I do not!" Emalia shrieked, but she knew the lie as soon as it came out of her mouth.

Ria laughed. "You are such a liar, a really bad one too!"

Emalia sighed and looked away, not saying anything. "Fine, don't speak. I still know that you like Vilkas, nothing can hide that."

Emalia whipped her head around angrily. "Can you shut up and talk about something else? Please?"

Ria giggled. "We are women, talking about our love interests is the thing we do!"

"You don't see Aela going around and gossiping, do you? Because I haven't!"

There was a silence, Ria shifted on the spot. "Aela's a member of the Circle, she doesn't have time for gossiping. She also doesn't have time for these things, they're unimportant to her... Plus she acts more like a guy than a real woman." Then she quickly covered her mouth. "I shouldn't have said something so disrespectful..."

Emalia shook her head. "It's fine, I'm not Aela."

Then Skjor came up to them. "Ah, there you are Emalia! I was looking for you for quite a while." He turned to Ria. "I must talk to Emalia, head back inside and look for some work to do."

Ria nodded and stood up. "I'll talk to you later!"

Ria ran off, leaving Emalia alone with Skjor. "As soon as you joined, I knew you were an extremely good warrior. I am also aware of the fact that you are the Dragonborn. So I've decided to give you a big test... Recently I was told about a fragment of Ysgramor's battle axe, Wuuthrad, which could be found in an ancient ruin nearby. I have decided this will be a good test for you. Farkas will be your Shield Sibling during this test, he will observe your skills in battle."

Emalia nodded, she felt so excited! She told Skjor she would head off right away. Emalia ran around looking for Farkas. Finally she found him sitting by the fire. "Um... Farkas? Skjor told me that you would be my Shield Sibling for this quest that Skjor has set me on..."

Farkas turned around and smiled. "Yeah, I know. I'm supposed to see how well you do in battle, we're going to be heading to Dustman's Cairn. Should we get this over and done with?"

Emalia nodded. "Let's go kill some draugr!"

**What do you think? Please leave thoughts and reviews where you always leave them and sit patiently for the next chapter! This is where things get exciting! Oh, a small question, who else seems to find that Vilkas is ALWAYS the last member of the Circle to be awake? It seems to always be the case for me! Okay, that's all I need to rant about! Till next update!**


	5. When the Trial Went Wrong

**I enjoyed writing this chapter! Got some awesomeness and adventure in this one, well... Hopefully I can call it awesomeness :) I didn't, as alway, exactly follow in actually lines that Farkas says when you return to Jorrvaskr, so don't mind that! Okay, to the story! **

Dust spiraled down from the ceiling and the smell of rotting wood clogged Emalia's nose. Farkas drew his sword and slowly walked around and slowly walked around the room, he kicked the dying embers of a faintly flickering fire. "Someone's in here already, could be bandits... Or worse..."

"Worse?" Emalia squeaked.

Farkas didn't answer, Emalia sucked in a shaky breath and walked deeper into the ruin. They continually came across abandoned campsites, Emalia became more and more uneasy. They hadn't come across any bandits or undead... They finally walked into a huge chamber, but the way was blocked. "Hm... I thought as much, bandits most likely blocked the way in. Okay, look around for a chain or a lever."

Emalia poked her head around a few corners before she came across a lever in a small alcove, she smiled and pulled the lever. There was a heavy clang of metal against stone, she turned around and paled. She had foolishly trapped herself in! "Farkas! Help!"

Farkas came running. "Ah! Look at what you've gotten yourself into, don't worry I'll get you out of there."

Then from the passage that Emalia had opened came a large group of bandits. Farkas held out his sword, the bandits circled him. "Look what we've got here, a pretty girl and a warrior!" One jeered.

"Look at his armor, he's one of them!"

"Hah! We knew you'd come, Companion!"

"Killing you will make a fine tale..."

Farkas threw his sword down and stood up a little straighter. "You won't live long enough to kill me."

A growl rumbled deep within his chest, Emalia's eyes widened in fear. What was happening? Farkas jerked and crouched down low. Dark fur crept up his body, his arms and legs became longer and his fingers curled into sharp claws. A tail twisted out from the base of his spine and his face elongated into a snout filled with gleaming fangs. His grunts of pain turned into the deep snarling of a wolf. He rose to his full height, towering over the bandits and let out a terrifying howl. Emalia's legs gave way in fear and she curled up in corner, closing her eyes tightly. She could still hear the terrified screams of the bandits as they were ripped to pieces. Then there was silence. Then she heard the sound of heavy footfall fade, the hiss of iron bars being pulled back into a mechanism told her that she was free. But she was to scared to move or shift from her curled up position. The clack of steel boots echoed through her ears, they came close and stopped. "Sorry I scared you back there..."

Emalia looked up to see Farkas, with his normal look and armor, coming towards her. She backed up against the wall as he came close. "It's fine, I'm still Farkas. I won't hurt you."

He held out a hand, Emalia stared at it for a while. She was still terrified. "A-are you all werewolves?" She asked slowly.

Farkas nodded. "All of the members of the Circle. Vilkas, Kodlak, Skjor, Aela and I. The others don't know, and they mustn't know. You've just been let into one of the greatest secrets of our order."

Emalia nodded, and then something clicked in her mind. "So that's why..."

"What?"

"I couldn't get to sleep, so I went outside to do a little bit of star gazing. Vilkas came over and yelled at me to leave." She explained.

Farkas nodded, he picked up his sword and slid it back into it's sheathe. "Well, we best get going. We need to find that fragment."

* * *

Emalia yawned and stretched when they finally got out of the ruin, Emalia had lost almost all of her arrows in the final chamber. All of them lodged deep in the bodies of undead corpses. Emalia and Farkas ran across the Whiterun Plains until they finally reached the city. Emalia was getting wearier by the minute, her legs were killing her. They reached Jorrvaskr by the time the sky was dark, Vilkas was waiting for them at the front. "So you have the fragment... Good. Come, the others are waiting around the back."

Emalia let the two brothers go ahead of her, she was still struggling to realize that they were actually werewolves... The two brothers talked in hushed tones, constantly looking back at Emalia. She was glad when they walked around the corner to find the members of the Circle gathered outside. Emalia felt all eyes on her. She shifted on the spot nervously, Emalia was so relieved when Kodlak started to speak. "This new recruit has proven her strength and honor to the Companions, she has braved the trial that she had to face. Farkas, would you raise you shield to protect her?"

"I would, for she is a good warrior and a kind woman. My sword will pierce the flesh of her enemies, for they are my enemies as well."

Kodlak nodded. "Then it is decided, this warrior has proven herself worthy. We welcome her to the Circle, she is a true member of the Companions."

A smile widened on her face. Emalia's heart raced in joy and pride, she had proven herself worthy to some of the greatest warriors in Skyrim! The members of the Circle congratulated her, and they all left until only Kodlak remained. "So... You know of the curse, the blood of the beast."

Emalia nodded. "Yes, I know of it. And I've seen it's destructive power, I'm glad that I wasn't in it's path."

"You should be very glad, it is a difficult power to control. You should rest now, you've had a long day."

Emalia nodded, she wished Kodlak a good night and walked quietly back to her room. Some of the other recruits congratulated her as she walked back to her room. She was about to open the door to her room when a hand was laid on her shoulder. "I guess now that you know I should tell you..." Vilkas whispered.

Emalia turned around. "Hm?"

"That night when I forced you to leave the training yard... Well, usually I can control when I have my 'transformations' but the call of the beast blood was strong that night and I didn't want to... accidentally rip you to pieces... Sorry that I was rather harsh to you, but I really didn't want to kill you... Accidentally... Sometimes lycanthropy is a curse." He muttered

Emalia nodded. "It's okay, I understand. Thank you for doing your best to keep me safe."

For what seemed like the first time, Vilkas smiled. Emalia's heart started beating faster, she felt so cheerful all of a sudden. "I'll see you around then!" She chirped.

Emalia walked into her room and closed the door, she jumped into her bed, still feeling like it was the best day of her life. As soon as her eyes closed, Emalia sank into a dreamless sleep.

**From here on out, there shall be more lovey-dovey parts! Especially in the next chapter! So look forward to that! Review, like, follow! Ooh! Just telling you guys now, I plan to write more of a backstory to Emalia later, after this fanfic is done. I'm considering doing little one-shots just about some characters in the Companions, past and present. Okay, that's it! I'll update you more next chapter!**


	6. You Love Him, Don't You?

**Oh how I love this chapter! It was really fun writing this! But I still think that it could be a little better... I'm not very good at typing really romantic scenes just yet, so I would love some advice! Anyway, this is where we start to see more Emalia/Vilkas moments :D Okay, enough of my ranting and time to continue the tale.**

Emalia sprang out of bed the next day, still feeling as cheerful as one could be. She skipped up to the dining hall and dragged a chair over to where Ria was sitting. "Hi there!"

Ria looked at her and laughed. "You seem very cheerful today, did a certain someone give you a kiss?" Ria giggled as she raised an eyebrow.

Emalia whacked Ria on the shoulder. "Stop it! I've made it very clear that-"

"You like him a lot."

Emalia thought about that for a moment and turned back to Ria. "Okay... I guess to you I've made _that_ very clear, but not to anyone else!"

"Uh huh... I think he knows."

"Knows what?"

Emalia jumped in her chair and turned around. "Um... Hi Vilkas! We were talking about..."

Ria budged in. "We were discussing how much she-"

Emalia put her hand over Ria's mouth. "Nothing!" She shrieked.

Vilkas raised his eyebrows quizzically. "Are you sure?"

Emalia nodded, but Ria shook her head and managed to pry Emalia's hand away. "We were discussing how much she likes you!" She squealed excitedly.

"Damn you!" Emalia screamed.

Her face felt hot with embarrassment. "I'm going to be practicing archery outside."

She stood up quickly and walked with a brisk pace to the door leading to the training grounds. She took out her bow and started shooting at the target, but she felt so distracted and frustrated. All of her arrows missed the target, and her mind was wandering off. Emalia gathered her arrows and stormed off, she walked into the bushes behind the targets and curled up into a ball. She still felt so embarrassed, and felt unwillingness to talk to anyone. Anyone but Paarthurnax, but he probably wouldn't understand her situation... She heard the doors to Jorrvaskr being swung open. Footsteps on the stones echoed. There was a sigh, then she could hear muttering. "Ria's big mouth, driving off the newest member..."

Emalia froze when she realized it was Vilkas. She held her breath, desperately trying to stay quiet. "Emalia, come out."

She didn't reply, she didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. She heard Vilkas coming closer to her hiding spot. Her chest ached from not sucking in any air for quite some time. The branches by her face rustled, Emalia shifted a little. She was sure that she hardly made a sound, but the rustling stopped and hands reached right for her. Vilkas pulled her out of the bushes with hardly any effort. "Found you." He laughed.

"How did you find me? I hardly made a sound!"

Vilkas laughed. "That is one of the advantages of being a werewolf, enhanced senses."

With a sly smile, Vilkas scooped Emalia up and held her tightly. "Well, I'm taking you back Jorrvaskr, Lover Girl." He teased.

Emalia screamed and wriggled in a desperate attempt to escape from his grip. But Vilkas was much stronger, and laughed at her struggles. "Stop wriggling, it's all fine!"

He pushed the doors to Jorrvaskr open and announced their presence. "I've found her outside!"

Everyone turned and laughed. "Stop humiliating me!" She hissed.

Vilkas leant closer to her ear. "I'm taking you downstairs to chat with, keep still or else..."

Emalia sighed in frustration and nodded. Vilkas walked quickly to the door that led to the living quarters, he dropped her on the floor and crossed his arms. "I want to hear from you. Do you love me?"

"Why do you need to know about my private business?"

"Huh, says the one who came into my room and watched me sleep. Hm... What else, oh right! Watched me sleep when I was only wearing trousers."

Emalia blushed, she looked down at the floor for a while. "Well?" Vilkas asked.

"I... I..."

"You what?"

"I do love you... I love you so much. I guess I was scared you wouldn't feel the same way..."

Vilkas knelt down and stroked her cheek. "I'm so glad that you said that at last... Because... Ever since I first found you in the snow, shivering and sick, I've never been able to think of anything else but you."

Emalia smiled widely. "I've never felt so happy in my life!"

Tears of joy trickled down her cheeks, she kissed Vilkas softly on the cheek. "You are my knight in shining armor." She whispered

Emalia felt so happy day after day with the Companions, they were like another family. She spent her hours perfecting her archery and swordplay, readying herself for the final battle with Alduin. Paarthurnax had warned her about the fight ahead... A month had passed, Emalia sat out in the sheltered area of the training yard. The sun was just about to set, splashing the land with a beautiful orange glow. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Emalia had gotten used to Vilkas sneaking up from behind her, she never got alarmed whenever he did so, most of the time... "There haven't been many beautiful in Skyrim for a while." Vilkas muttered.

Emalia nodded in agreement, such beauty was rare. Vilkas dragged a chair from a long table and sat down next to her. "Should we watch the sunset together? I find it rather calming..."

In response, Emalia wrapped her arms around Vilkas and held him close. He stroked her hair as they watched the sun sink into the horizon. Just as the last rays of sunlight faded, A shiver went down Vilkas's back. "What's wrong?" Emalia asked.

"I don't know... _Argh!"_ Vilkas bent over, his hand against his chest. "It hurts to breathe..." He wheezed.

Emalia's eyes widened in fear. "What were you doing before you came down here?"

"N... Nothing."

Vilkas turned away from her and sucked in a painful breath. He gasped in pain again as his head jerked back.

Then his eyes widened. "Emalia... I can feel it... The call of the blood..."

Vilkas's hands clenched into fists, he then looked into Emalia's eyes. "Go! Please go! I don't want to hurt you or anyone else... I need to get out of Whiterun immediately. I'll be back very late."

Vilkas stood up and started to run to the entrance of Whiterun.

Emalia nodded slowly and walked back into Jorrvaskr. She wandered around the sleeping quarters for a while, Emalia was about to turn to her room, but stopped and continued down the hall. She pushed open one door and sighed in relief, she could just imagine what Vilkas would say: "Going through my room again?" Emalia smiled and sat down at the foot of his empty bed. She grabbed a fistful of the blanket and held it close. She inhaled his scent, the smell of metal and sweat. Emalia wrapped the blanket around her and curled up on the bed. She was tired and worried about Vilkas, but she soon drifted off.

She woke up to someone gently shaking her. "Emalia, wake up." Someone whispered.

Emalia moaned and covered her head with the blanket. "Go away..."

There was a tired sigh. "This is my room."

She half opened her eyes to see Vilkas kneeling by the bed, "Oh... Hi..."

He smiled. "Hi, now do I have to carry you back to your room?"

Emalia nodded, Vilkas sighed and slid his arms under her. He picked her up and held her close to his chest and turned to the door, Emalia exhaled contently and shifted closer to him. There was the creak of a door opening and Emalia was eased back onto her own bed. "Okay, now you're back into your own bed and I can sleep... Most likely without that blanket."

Emalia nodded. "I like it... It smells like you."

Vilkas chuckled softly. "Ah, fine... Well I'm incredibly tired, so I will see you in the morning."

He held her fingers and kissed them. Emalia brought her fingers to her lips and smiled. "Good night, Vilkas."

**Yeahhhh... I tried! Please give me feedback! Okay, I don't want to spoil anything for the next chapter, because it's gonna be really epic XD Keep an eye out for the next chapter! And one last thing, Ria is never going to say she killed a bear yesterday... Ever. She's just one of those annoying friends who bug you whenever you're hanging around the guy you like, not a bear murderer. 'kay, I'm done ranting! Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	7. Lycanthropy is Still a Curse

**New update! Yay! This is where the stuff get's exciting! Well... I hope XD Yeah... I don't have anything to rant about right now, not like usual days... Heheheh... Yeah, I'm gonna answer a review right now:**

**Katschaba: Like I said, I'm not the best romance writer... Emalia is kind of a... let's say cheerful and a little childish at times, and she quite easily get's embarrassed! So she kinda acts like a child about it :) About the love confession being so early in the fanfic, let's just say that I have a really bad habit of thinking quite far ahead when in comes to writing... I'm not really a writer who leaves all things to last or in the middle, sorry about that... bad habits :\ It's something I've been working really hard to change! Don't worry, I've been thinking about rewriting that part later on... Thank you so much for the feedback though!**

**Okay! Let the story commence!**

Emalia woke up again the next morning, she stretched and set her feet on the floor. Yawning, she pulled her boots on and strapped her bow and quiver to her back. Emalia reluctantly dragged herself away from her bed and stumbled out of her room, as she walked up to the main hall Skjor walked up to her. "Ah, good morning! I hope you slept well tonight."

Emalia nodded sleepily. "What do you need, Skjor?"

Skjor looked around, seeing if anyone else was around, even though no one was there he spoke in hushed tones. "Tonight, meet me beneath the Skyforge. Make sure you are unseen, do not tell anyone."

"Um... Okay... But why?"

"You will soon find out. See you then." With that, Skjor walked away.

Emalia shrugged and continued walking on. She welcomed the warmth of the fire as she walked into the main hall. Emalia sat down on one of the chairs and waved at Ria, who came over and sat beside her. "How's it going? What's it like being a member of the Circle?"

"It's like being a normal member of the Companions... I'm surprised you haven't said anything about Vilkas." She said with a mischievous smile.

Ria laughed. "I know what you're going to say anyway," Ria imitated Emalia's annoyed expression. "I do not like him!"

Emalia laughed with Ria, they had become good friends and often made Jorrvaskr echo with laughter. "Hey, would you like to go hunting with me?" Emalia ask.

Ria shook her head sadly. "Sorry, Vilkas is going to help me with my sword fighting... I wish I could though! By the way... Where is Vilkas?"

Emalia giggled. "I think he's still asleep."

Ria sighed. "Ah... As usual, you wouldn't mind to go look for him, right?"

Emalia blushed as she thought back to the last time she had done the same thing. "Um... I guess..." Emalia muttered.

"What?"

"I said okay, I'll look for him."

Emalia stood up and made her way down to the sleeping quarters. As usual, the hallway was quiet. No sound from any of the rooms whatsoever, because everyone had left already. She walked down to the end of the corridor, where Vilkas's room was. Emalia knocked softly on the door whilst calling his name. There was no reply, not even the even breathing of sleep could be heard from the door. Emalia slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. "You just couldn't resist the chance to snoop around my room again."

Emalia turned around. "There you are Vilkas! Ria was looking for you, so she asked me to look around."

Vilkas laughed. "Yes, I know. I was just about to go to see her when you came down, I decided to see if you were going to sneak into my room."

Emalia sighed. "Well, now that I've found you, you should head up to Ria and see what she wants."

Vilkas nodded. "I was planning to do that, I'll see you later!"

Emalia waved as Vilkas walked down the corridor. "See you."

Night came swiftly, when everyone went back to sleep Emalia snuck out of her room and walked silently to where Skjor wished to meet her. It was a moonless night, drowning everything into darkness. Emalia shuddered, even a home can change into the most frightening thing when bathed in darkness. She could just make out Skjor standing beneath the forge. She realized that he was standing by the strange door carving. "Good, you are here. Aela is inside already. She is in her beast form, don't be alarmed."

Skjor lay a hand on the stone and pressed against it. It shuddered and sunk into the ground. Skjor walked into the yawning mouth of the dark tunnel without hesitation. Emalia cautiously stepped inside. The door closed behind her, engulfing Emalia in blackness. She swallowed down a frightened yelp and walked through the tunnel. Dust swirled around her, the tunnel was ancient yet unforgotten. She could see torchlight at the end of the tunnel, it encouraged Emalia to walk on. Her steps echoed off the walls as her pace quickened, Emalia reached a large chamber with a low ceiling. In the middle was a stone bowl, stained with blood. Skjor stood on the opposite side of the chamber alongside a large werewolf with glowing amber eyes, the werewolf must be Aela. "You are now a member of the Circle, a group of the most trusted warriors in the Companions. All are werewolves, it is about time you truly became one of us." Skjor drew his sword and clamped his hand around Aela's huge hand. Skjor slashed his sword down her palm, making dark blood drip into the bowl. "Kodlak is to busy trying to throw away what he thinks is a curse when this is a blessing, it makes us strong warriors! Now, drink the blood of the beast."

Emalia froze. "What?" She whispered.

"Drink the blood, embrace the beast within you!" Skjor shouted.

Emalia walked forwards and looked down into the bowl, she cupped the dark blood in her hands and cringed as she tipped it down her throat. Emalia coughed and gagged, it tasted awful. Nothing happened at first, then blinding pain arced down her spine. Soon after that her chest felt like it was being crushed by a giant's hammer, every breath made her wail in pain. Every muscle in her body felt like they were on fire, it felt like her bones were cracking and shifting into place. Emalia's legs suddenly gave way, with one final scream everything went dark.

* * *

The first thing that hit her when she came back to her senses was how cold she felt. Emalia groaned and shook her head, she looked down and yelped as she realized she was clothed in nothing by her undergarments. She wrapped her arms around herself in embarrassment. Something thumped into the snow, Emalia looked and sighed in relief when she saw it was her armor. "Ah, you're awake! Thank the divines..."

Emalia looked up to see Aela, in her true form, with a torch in hand. "You might want to put your armor on, after that we'll talk."

Emalia ducked behind a tree and pulled all of her apparel back on. After she was fully clothed, Emalia walked back to Aela. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere southwest of Windhelm, it was quite a challenge getting you here! You're transformation wasn't an easy one, you gave us almost as much trouble as Farkas did!" Aela said with a laugh.

"Does that mean I'm a werewolf now?"

Aela nodded. "You have the blood of the beast, welcome to the Circle. As a little... Celebration... I've actually brought you to the camp of the Silver Hand, a group of werewolf hunters. Tonight we are going to slaughter them."

Emalia laughed. "At least I can hunt something smarter than deer."

Aela smiled. "Skjor has gone ahead, but no matter. Come now Shield Sister."

Emalia took out her bow and followed Aela as she led the way to the fort, she soon realized how much sharper her eyesight was, how well she could hear, how distinct everything smelt and how much stronger she felt. But somewhere in her head, a voice echoed "_Lycanthropy is still a curse..."_ Emalia sighed, but paid no heed to it.

* * *

"Just beyond here is the leader of the Silver Hand, Krev the Skinner... His name sends chills down my spine... I don't need to tell you much about what he does, you can probably guess by his name."

Emalia shuddered at the thought and continued on. Aela drew a sword, she tossed one over to Emalia. "Let's not make their deaths quick, they deserve to die."

Aela kicked the door open and yelled "For the Companions!"

She charged into the chamber, Emalia followed her lead. The Silver Hand immediately dashed to defend their leader, but Emalia cut them down. She jumped into the air and plunged her sword into Krev the Skinner. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the blade which pierced his heart, his eyes glazed over and the light faded from within him. Emalia yanked the sword from the now dead body. But victory was short lived. Aela let out a scream of anguish and terrible grief, Emalia turned to see her kneeling over Skjor's bloody, broken body. Emalia gasped and dashed over, "How is this possible?" She whispered.

Aela cursed loudly as tears trickled down her cheeks. "He was one of our strongest warriors... The bastards... They... They killed him..."

Her expression changed quickly from grief to rage. "We are going to make them pay." Aela growled.

Emalia nodded. Aela turned to her, "I know of a Silver Hand camp nearby. Go kill them all."

**Please review and all that and I will update soon!**


	8. The Old Man's Wish

**Things start to get really sad and stuff from here, like in the game! Okay, just one last thing: I don't know which is the proper spelling for the Nord afterlife. Is it Sovengard, Sovengarde or Sovngarde? I spell it 'Sovengarde' because that was the spelling I saw on websites and that spelling seemed right... If that's not the proper spelling, could someone please tell me so I can get it right for the other fanfics I plan to write? (Oh yes... There are more fanfiction ideas still in my head ;) keep an eye out for them) Right! On to the story!**

Emalia returned once again from slaying the Silver Hand. Aela stood by the entrance of Jorrvaskr, smiling. "I see you have returned! Well, I fear Kodlak has gotten wind of our actions... He has asked to see you. One word of advice, tell him the truth, but don't tell him what he doesn't know."

Emalia nodded and walked down to Kodlak's study, where the Harbinger usually spent his days. When she entered, Kodlak sat by a table and turned to see her. "Ah... It's good to see you here!" He gestured to the chair on the opposite side of the table, "Have a seat."

Emalia slid into the chair and looked down at her feet, Kodlak's icy blue eyes seemed to stare into her very soul. "I see you have been bringing the battle to the Silver Hand?"

"Well... I have been avenging Skjor's death."

Kodlak sighed angrily. "You have taken more lives than is necessary! You need not to kill any others!"

She bit her lip, ashamed. Kodlak was right... She had killed to many, it was hardly right to take the lives of so many when only one had been taken. "Ah, no matter... I want to talk about what I was wanting to talk about. Do you know about the lycanthropy that was laid upon us?"

Emalia nodded. "Vilkas told me it was a curse laid upon us."

Kodlak merely chuckled. "The boy is partially true, but it wasn't a curse at the start... The order of the Companions has been around for nearly five thousand years, but the curse has only troubled us for a few hundred. One of the Harbingers was a good but short sighted. He made a pact with the Glenmoril witches, if we hunted in the name of Hircine we would be granted great power. But we were deceived... Though our bodies are more powerful, the disease seeps into the spirit and upon death werewolves are claimed by Hircine. Most would love nothing more than to hunt by their lord Hircine, but I am a true nord! I wish for my true spirit home... Sovengarde."

Emalia tilted her head in confusion. "So... How do we cure lycanthropy?"

Kodlak smiled. "The witches won't cure us willingly, but if we were to get their heads, the seat of their abilities, I might know how to cure myself... Travel to Glenmoril Coven, northwest of Falkreath, may Talos guide you."

Kodlak beckoned for Emalia's map and marked where the cave was. "I think I might have seen the entrance before..." Emalia murmured.

The old Harbinger smiled. "Then it'll be easier to find, go quickly!"

* * *

The stench of death made Emalia's sensitive nose wrinkle, she could already tell that the cave would be filled with such a stench by the decor outside. Animal ribcages and skulls arranged in such a way as to make new terrifying skeletons, the only sources of light were Spriggan hearts. Even though the hearts hardly illuminated the way, it was bright enough to see dark blood staining the ground. Emalia found it difficult to control her beast within, taking deep breaths she continued walking, facing the stars. The cave sent chills down her spine, centuries of history seemed to be held in the blood stained stones. The wheezing of a hagraven could be heard within, Emalia could see the witch walking around the torch lit chamber. Arcane fire cracked against the witch's withered skin. Emalia crouched in the shadows and took her bow out, she notched an arrow in and pulled the bow string back. Emalia breathed slowly and aimed, taking in a breath she released the arrow. Her shot was true and it thudded into the witch's shoulder, the hagraven screeched and turned around. Emalia knew in an instant that the witch had seen her. "Your blood is ours, Companion." The witch rasped.

The flames that licked the witch's arms brightened and formed a huge fireball. The burnt smell of magic filled the air as the fireball was hurled towards Emalia, and in just the nick of time she rolled out of the way and loosed another arrow. The witch screamed as the arrow pierced her heart, within seconds the hagraven fell to the ground limp. Emalia cautiously walked towards the witch with a steel dagger unsheathed. She kicked the body and sighed in relief as she confirmed that the witch had fallen. Emalia swallowed and turned away as she brought the dagger across the witch's neck, severing the head from the rest of the body. Emalia groaned in disgust as she dropped the witch's head in a sack. She strode to the entrance of the cave, eager to get out of the witch coven. Emalia ran through the beautiful forests and laughed in glee. It was good to be out in the open and run freely. Her hair was whipped around by the wind as she sprinted back to the city of Whiterun, propelled by the sweet taste of victory. Emalia sang as she leaped across the plains of Whiterun, getting closer to Jorrvaskr.

* * *

When Emalia got back to Jorrvaskr, she was hit with a surprise. People gathered around the hall muttering and gasping. Emalia pushed through the crowd to see Aela standing over the corpses of the Silver Hand. "They finally had the nerve to show themselves..." Aela growled, she turned to Emalia gestured to the hall. "Some got inside though."

Emalia ran up to the hall and flung the doors open. Bodies of the Silver Hand were everywhere, some of the new recruits lay wounded on the ground. Emalia looked desperately for Kodlak. She looked to one side and jumped when she saw Vilkas towering over her, his silver eyes blazing in anger. "Where have you been?!" He growled.

Emalia had never seen Vilkas so angry, but within his eyes lay terrible grief. "I was doing Kodlak's bidding..." She stammered.

"Well it had better been important! You weren't here to defend him!" He yelled.

It finally dawned upon Emalia of what had happened. "You don't mean..."

"The old man... Kodlak... He's dead." Vilkas whispered.

Emalia gasped, tears in her eyes. She looked over to where Farkas crouched, Kodlak lay on the ground. A war axe lay on the floor next to him. Blood stained Kodlak's snowy hair, his ice blue eyes gazing at the sky. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she reached to run her fingers through Kodlak's hair. "I'm so sorry Kodlak..." She whispered.

Emalia started to sob, she had gone to get the Glenmoril witch head for nothing! "The Silver Hand will pay!" Vilkas growled.

Emalia turned to him. "They made off with our shards Wuuthrad, too! I am going to slaughter them all!" He yelled!

Vilkas was about to leave when Emalia walked forward. "Wait," Vilkas turned around. "I want to go with you." Emalia finished.

Vilkas hesitated for a moment then sighed. "Fine then."

**So, how do you like this chapter? Please tell me! I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter, and how I may be able to make it better! The next chapter is nearly done, just going through the process of editing and finalizing it! It'll be up soon, I promise!**


	9. The Fire That Once Burned

**I'm not going to rant today, I just want to get straight into this. I really hope you like this chapter! Oh, one last thing: Thank you Katschaba for the proper spelling of Sovngarde! That little detail has been haunting me for so long... **

South east of Dawnstar stood a fort, Driftshade Refuge, the main fort of the Silver Hand. Emalia crouched by Vilkas behind a rock. "I will go first, clear the way, and only then will you come with me. I don't want to put you in danger."

"Are you sure?" Vilkas narrowed his eyes and gave her that look which said very clearly 'don't question me'. "Extremely sure."

Knowing that there was no use arguing, Emalia sighed and nodded in agreement. "Okay..."

Vilkas jumped over the rock and unsheathed his sword. The thud of heavy doors was carried away in the wind, Emalia stretched out and wrapped the cloak she had around her to keep the cold out. She was ever so grateful that this time she had thought of bringing the cloak. She sat there for a while, watching the snowflakes drift from the sky. Emalia sighed and decided she could use this spare time for some thinking, something she hadn't been able to do for quite some time... Emalia thought to herself about the things she had gone through in the past few days... So much in so little time... So much death, so many changes... Not all were choices she chose. "_What do I, myself, think of this... Power I have been giving. Lycanthropy. Is it a gift as Aela said, or a curse as Vilkas said? _She thought to herself. _"What do I, personally, think about being a werewolf?"_ Emalia asked herself

She raised her hand and flexed her fingers, examining them as if looking for some change in them. _"I feel stronger... More alert and aware, but that is only useful when in combat. What of when I sleep? I am plagued with night terrors and though my body may feel rested, my mind is weary and never left in peace." _Emalia thought to herself spitefully. _"How could I have let this happen to me? How could I have let Skjor change me without considering the consequences! I've never been one to follow the Daedra, yet I fall prey to their 'blessings' because of people who I trust!" _ Emalia sighed deeply. "Now I know how Kodlak feels..." She mumbled sullenly.

"Will Arkay still accept me? Will I be able to rest in whatever afterlife awaits me? I don't want to hunt forever..." Emalia whispered fearfully.

Then another thought, more related to the present than her previous worries, came to mind. "By the Divines... Does Vilkas know?" She asked silently.

She knew that he considered Lycanthropy as a curse, would he think that she chose it willingly? Or would he know that Skjor forced her to take the blood of the beast? Would he treat her the same? Would he still love her? Oh, so many questions and so little answers! She sank deeper into the cloak she wore around her and furrowed her brows in concern. "Why didn't I think of all these things before?" She asked herself. "They are so important yet... I never thought of all of this before. How?"

Emalia let out a growl of frustration and dug her fingers under the snow. "Who knew joining a group of warriors whose order started nearly five thousand years ago would change my life so much?" _Ah, but that's the problem. The order of the Companions is ancient, and ancient is just another word for 'full of dark secrets'._

But then, she heard laughing and talking from the fort. Silver Hand by the sound of it, none of the voices belonged to Vilkas... But by the sound of their conversation, something was very _very _wrong, for Emalia. "They tried to get their precious treasure from us, but failed." Someone snickered._  
_

She froze, but for the first time she actually thanked her beastblood for letting her be able to hear the rest of the words that the Silver Hand had to say. "Yeah, pathetic Companion didn't stand a chance! Ran my sword through him and listened to him scream."

There was laughing, and then she realized who they were talking about. Vilkas. She cast off the cloak she wore, revealing her bright glass armor which she wore beneath the thick furs. Emalia took out her bow, ready for combat, and leaped over the rock she was hiding behind, as fast as lightening she loosened a terrible shout. "_Strun... Bah Qo!" _

Lightening crackled in the air and the skies darkened. Emalia had summoned a deadly storm overhead. The wind whistled and heavy rain fell, a flash of forked lightening struck the Silver Hand and they fell paralyzed and dead to the ground. Emalia kicked their corpse away and entered the dark fort. Dead bodies were everywhere, blood was splattered on the ground and the walls. Emalia dashed through the fort, her search becoming more desperate by the minute. Everywhere she went, there was no sign of Vilkas. Emalia suddenly stumbled across his sword on the ground. She gasped and clenched the hilt and held it close, the steel was stained with blood of the Silver Hand. Emalia looked around desperately for the wielder of the sword, but didn't see him. Emalia ran to the next room and gasped. Slumped against the wall was Vilkas, his breathing was ragged and uneven. His hand clutched his side, blood seeped through his fingers "Vilkas!" Emalia screamed.

The Companion turned to face her. "Emalia... I... I should have listened to you..."

Emalia knelt by him and rummaged through her various pouches, desperately looking for a healing tonic, but found none. "Forgetful... As always." Vilkas laughed weakly.

Emalia smiled, even in the gravest of situations Vilkas could find humor... If he was in the mood to do so. Emalia's lips trembled, without the healing tonics that she usually carried around, Vilkas would die. Emalia felt tears trickle down her cheeks, she had faced so much death in the past months... She couldn't bear to see the one she loved die in front of her eyes. Vilkas reached up and stroked her cheek tenderly. "Did I ever tell you that you are more beautiful than any other woman I have ever met?"

Emalia furrowed her brows. "This isn't time for near death confessions!" She snapped, tears flowing freely. "I'm so glad I had the opportunity to have you in my life..."

From there, Emalia broke down. She started sobbing and ran her fingers through Vilkas's dark hair. "I feel the same way, but I will not let you die."

Emalia gently lifted Vilkas's arm and checked the wound, he was probably stabbed by a silver sword. The wound wouldn't heal and the skin around it was blacked as if it was poisoned, Emalia rummaged through her things once more and felt so glad she had decided to pick the blue mountain flower which she had seen on the way to the Silver Hand fort. She plucked the petals off the and crushed them until they were a sticky paste. Emalia gently rubbed some of the paste on the stab wound, recalling a childhood memory of when she had scrapped her knees and her mother and done the same thing for her. She remembered her mothers soothing voice explaining what the flower could do. _"Now Emalia, remember well that this flower has the ability to heal injuries. But in the form of petals, the work is slow. It may sting but it will heal you."_

Memories of home brought more tears to Emalia's eyes, she quickly dashed them away. Vilkas winced as she rubbed the paste into the wound. Emalia smiled sympathetically. "I know it stings, my mother used to do the same for me when I was little."

After a while Vilkas lay a hand upon her wrist. "It's okay, you go on ahead. Bring glory to the Companions..."

Emalia shook her head. "No! I won't leave you!"

"Emalia..."

She looked into Vilkas's eyes, he then did something she did not expect. He pulled her close and kissed her, not soft kiss on the cheek... A passionate one on the lips. When he pulled away, Emalia was too stunned to say anything. "Go..." He whispered.

Finally, Emalia nodded. "I will come back for you." She promised.

"I know you will"

* * *

Emalia delved through the stone passages, the Silver Hand had lowered their guard down for they had thought that the Companions wouldn't dare come after them. Almost all that Emalia had faced were drinking, making them easy to sneak up on and slay. Emalia finally came up to a huge door, behind it she could hear talking and laughter. She heard someone say "Wuuthrad" and knew immediately that behind the door were the fragments she was seeking. Emalia pulled out a vial filled with poison and dipped her arrow heads in it, making sure that she didn't get any of the liquid on her skin. Quietly, Emalia gently pushed the door open and crept to a dark corner. From where she was, Emalia could see the shards of Wuuthrad scattered on a wooden table. The Silver Hand gathered around the table laughing. Emalia took out her bow and readied an arrow, she pulled the bowstring back and loosed the arrow with a _twang. _One of the Silver Hand fell to the ground, all of the others drew their swords and looked around desperately for their unseen opponent. "Is someone there?" One yelled.

Emalia pulled back another arrow and hit another Silver Hand. Emalia put her bow away and unsheathed the sword which was strapped to her side, "For the glory of the Companions!" She cried.

Jumping out of the shadows, Emalia revealed herself and fought like a demon. None of the Silver Hand managed to strike her, she leaped and twisted around her opponents as she gracefully swung her sword. In a matter of minutes, all of the Silver Hand lay dying on the floor. "If you attempt to attack Jorrvaskr once again, I swear that I will do more than just slit your throats... I will tear you to pieces and watch your carcasses burn in the flames of my anger! I will rip your souls from your pathetic bodies with my _Thu'um_ for I am Dragonborn and I am one of the Companions! I will fight to bring glory to my Shield Brothers and Sisters, even if I must give my life for them!" Emalia snarled.

She gathered up all of the fragments of the legendary battle ax and raced back to Vilkas.

* * *

"Vilkas! I got the fragments of Wuuthrad!" Emalia squealed excitedly.

There was no reply, Emalia stopped running and slowly walked up to him. "Vilkas?" She whispered.

Still, there was no reply. Emalia's eyes widened as she feared the worst, immediately she dashed over to his body. "Vilkas! Please, say something!" Emalia screamed.

What she had feared came true... His beautiful, hypnotizing silver eyes were dull and lifeless, staring up at the ceiling. Emalia gasped, her eyes were rimmed with unshed tears. Vilkas had taken his last breath long before she had returned, for his skin was cold and paler than usual. A sob escaped Emalia as she cupped his chin in her hand. "Vilkas?" She whispered.

Silence echoed in her ears. Tears trickled down her cheeks, Vilkas was dead... Emalia started to weep as realization came crashing down on her chest. She had seen so much death in the past few days, Emalia felt like her heart had been torn mercilessly into pieces. She had never experience pain as great as this. Desperation gripped at her mind. "You can't be dead!" She sobbed. "You can't leave me!"

Emalia collapsed into a sobbing heap next to Vilkas's limp body. "I loved you so much! Every since I saw you that day, I knew you were the one who I could love for my entire life! I just didn't know if you would feel the same way, that's why I continually denied that I liked you! Your silver eyes stole my heart, made me love you... They were filled with life and fire, now... They're lifeless..." Emalia weeped.

She placed her hand over his heart. "I can't let you leave me alone, I refuse to live with this sorrow!"

Emalia channeled golden energy down her arm, under her breath she muttered an ancient language. She poured all of her energy into Vilkas, hoping he would take a breath and reach for her. When the last words of the spell left her mouth, nothing happened. Emalia wept, but all of her energy had abandoned her. Within seconds, her consciousness slipped away.

**Please please please please please PLEASE review! I'll say now that I had two ideas of where this chapter would go: 1. What has been written and 2. Vilkas giving in to the call of the blood (because, as we know, he's had some difficulty keeping the wolf within under control). As you can see, I went with the more emotional idea. I really really think that I should rewrite this chapter in some way! No matter how many times I changed it, I felt that I was just missing SOMETHING! I've never been really good at sad scenes or romantic scenes, so I would really appreciate any advice! Anyway, I still hope that you liked what I've written :) If you ever reread this chapter, listen to some sad music. It works wonders! XD**


	10. Funerals and Secrets

**Chapter 10! Yay! Okay, I want to take this opportunity to thank you guys so much to getting over 1000 views! Thank you so much! It's really amazing how many views this fanfic has gotten, before this fanfic was on here only two other people had seen just the beginning! This has gone really far now... So once again, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Now, I give you the next part of the story because there is no way this story is finished yet!**

It was the warmth of a fire that woke her, her limbs ached from the lack of use. Emalia slowly opened her eyes, what was that she could see? The night sky? Stars? She shook her head and propped herself upright. Emalia was lying next to a fire, in a small campsite, deep in a forest... How did she get here? Her fingers brushed against metal, she looked down to see the fragments of Wuuthrad next to her. It all came crashing down, Revenge for Kodlak, Driftshade Refuge, the Silver Hand and... Vilkas's death. A silent tear trickled down her cheek, she put her face in her hands as she cried. It was her fault, her carelessness... She hadn't remembered to bring any healing potions, or be bothered to try find one! How could she just be so careless again? Hadn't she learnt her lesson before? Emalia bit down on her knuckles. "This is all my fault." She whispered.

Emalia wrapped her arms around herself rocking back and forth whispering what she had just said to herself over and over again. She let her tears fall from her eyes freely, not bothered to wipe the tears away. At the moment, Emalia didn't care what happened to her. She would wait until an animal came to claw her to nothing, or a bandit to stab her in the back, she didn't care. But there was one little question that lingered in her mind... Who brought her here? Who saved her? Emalia brushed away the strands of hair that stuck to her cheeks and tear stains before she looked around her. "Hello? Who saved me?" Emalia called.

There wasn't a response. Emalia quickly came to the conclusion that whoever saved her must have abandoned her. Soon, Emalia broke down into tears again.

"Don't be like that, I hate seeing you cry." Said a familiar voice behind her.

Emalia whipped around, seeking the voice. She saw a figure leaning against a tree, but it was too dark to see who it was. "Who's there?"

There was a chuckle. "Really, Emalia? You can't recognize my voice?"

The figure stepped out of the shadows, and Emalia's eyes widened. For the person who had stepped out of the shadows was Vilkas. "I'm seeing things..." Emalia muttered.

"I'm not a ghost! If that was what you were implying..."

A smile spread across Emalia's face, she leaped over to Vilkas and embraced him tightly. "You're alive!" She screamed joyfully.

Vilkas laughed, Emalia felt his arms around her. Tears of joy sprung from her eyes, after a long time she finally released Vilkas from her tight embrace. "Soon after you left, everything went dark." Vilkas explained. "All I could hear was the distant howling of Hircine's wolves, coming to claim me. When I thought they were going to drag me off to the Hunting Grounds, I heard your voice... Begging me to come back to you. I tried to fight the wolves, but they were just to powerful... Then, golden energy flooded through me. Strength returned to me, and I fought off the wolves, desperate to return to you. Then... I felt alive again, the darkness retreated and I saw you, unconscious, beside me. The pain of silver poisoning had subsided, and the wound had healed. I carried you out of the fort and... Well, you can guess what happened afterwards, I hope."

Emalia smiled, "I'm just glad that you're alive..."

Vilkas chuckled. "I'm glad that I can be with you... Now, I'd rather get out of this place! Too many memories, and it is also a place where I had a near death experience."

Emalia punched him in the chest. "Don't talk like it's a joke!"

Vilkas just laughed and walked over to the fire, kicking the embers. "Help me remove any traces of us from this place."

* * *

They returned to Whiterun with a cheerful mood, but their happiness was soon dampened when they reached Jorrvaskr. The hall was empty and silent, Emalia bit her lip worriedly. "Where is everyone?"

Vilkas sighed and looked back to the door, "Kodlak's funeral..."

Emalia and Vilkas silently left the hall and walked up to the Skyforge, all of the Companions were gathered around the forge, along with the Jarl and some highly ranked citizens of Whiterun. Red banners bearing golden designs of Wuuthrad fluttered in the wind, the setting sun elongated the shadows, giving the dying hours of day haunting. The Skyforge embers glowed dimly, atop the glowing coals was a funeral pyre. Kodlak lay wreathed in snowberry branches there. The blood that once matted his white hair had been washed away, his eyes had been closed too. It gave Emalia the impression that he was asleep, but deep down she knew he was dead. Kodlak's sword was clasped in his hands upon his chest and his sword lay at his feet, and his shield lay at his feet. Aela stepped forward with a torch and started to speak. She was saying her last goodbyes to Kodlak. Next, Farkas started to speak. Then Vilkas. Finally, it was Emalia's turn to say farewell to the man who let her join the Companions. "Kodlak Whitemane, I haven't known you all my life, like some of us here. But, in the short time I have known you... I just want to say that I think of you as family, I want to thank you so much for letting me into the Companions when some doubted me," Emalia glanced at Vilkas, "Kodlak, you believed in me, and every single one of us standing here. Your judgement was what made the Companions strong, we never faltered or staggered with you to guide us, Ysgramor himself would be proud to see that the Companions had such a kind and courageous leader! I thank you for all that you have done for us, leading us, helping us, advising us. Everything. May you..." Emalia choked back a sob, "may you find peace in Sovngarde... _Nu praan, Spaan Zeymah..._" _Now rest, Shield Brother..._ Those words echoed in Emalia's mind.

Emalia stepped back, showing she had said goodbye. Aela came forward with a torch, her hands quivering, desperately trying to stay strong. Aela hesitated before lighting the funeral pyre, the flames licked the wood and slowly crept up to Kodlak. Emalia bit her lip and turned away, she couldn't bear to see Kodlak being engulfed in flames. Tears started trickling down her cheeks, a sob escaped her, she felt Vilkas put a comforting arm around her and bring her close. Emalia slowly raised her head and watched as the flames quickly consumed Kodlak. The flames twisted into the shapes of wolves, they soared up to the sky through the paths of smoke. Emalia quickly turned away as the fire made Kodlak's flesh burn. Soon, Kodlak's remains were reduced to nothing but ashes. All that attended the funeral left, leaving only Emalia, and the blacksmith. "I was wondering, do you have the fragments of Wuuthrad?' Eorlund asked.

Emalia nodded and held them out, she gave them to Eorlund and muttered goodbye. "Wait," Emalia turned around, "Kodlak kept one piece very close to him." Eorlund explained. "It must still be in his room somewhere, could you perhaps go and get it?"

"Okay, I suppose I'll have to then..." She muttered.

Eorlund thanked her as she slowly walked away. The hall of Jorrvaskr was quiet, not a single Companions uttered a word as Emalia walked to Kodlak's room. Everyone was in the main hall, drowning their sorrows through drink. She walked into the sleeping quarters and sighed in relief when she realized that no one was down there with her. All she needed was for one of the Companions to taunt Emalia about her going through people's things and walking in on them, she had heard that quite enough from Vilkas. One particular incident made her cheeks flush a deep shade of scarlet. Emalia quickly cleared her thoughts and focused on the matter at hand. She continued down the hall and silently opened the door to Kodlak's room. The room was silent and all of Kodlak's belongings were neatly put in shelves and chests, but there was the odd herb or two on his desk. Emalia sighed as she realized she would have to go through Kodlak's things in order to find the shard of Wuuthrad that he kept so close to him. Emalia decided to go through the drawers that lined the desk that stood in the corner of the room, she wandered over and pulled the drawer open. Rolls of paper and charcoal were the only things that she found at first. After a few moments of rifling through old papers and letters, she found an old, leather bound journal. Something heavy was wedged within the pages. Shaking the book, a sharp weapon fragment clattered to the floor. The last fragment of Wuuthrad. But curiosity had gotten the better of her, Emalia carefully flicked through the fragile pages of Kodlak's journal. What it had said in there surprised her almost as much as when she found out she was Dragonborn.

_4E 21st Frostfall_

_My dreams of late have been dark and haunting, sending shivers down my spine. Ever since I have had that dream, I feared for my soul. All of the Harbingers of the Companions stood in a line before the mighty warrior Tsun starting from Ysgramor. I watched as he let the Harbingers of old cross the bridge to the grand Hall of Valor. But when Terrfyg came forth, Tsun denied access to the hall. In regret, Terrfyg turned away from the hall. Hircine appeared before him, beckoning him to the Eternal Hunting Grounds. (Add in later) seemed regretful, yet eager to join Hircine. Then, one by one, all of the remaining Harbingers are spirited away to the Eternal Hunting grounds. I watch helplessly as Hircine's wolves approach me. Just as I weaken, a stranger, a Bosmer, charges into the fray and kills the wolves with her bow. I then wake up. What could this mean? But one thing I know for certain is that Hircine is waiting to claim my soul... But I am a true Nord, I wish for Sovngarde. I expressed my concerns to the rest of the Circle. Aela and Skjor would like nothing more than to join Hircine in the Hunt, but Vilkas agrees with me. Sovngarde is our true spirit home. Though Farkas hasn't decided yet, I am sure he will come around like his brother._

_4E 19th Sun's Dusk_

_The twins and I have been ignoring the blood for quite some time. But recently Vilkas has been explaining that he can still hear the call of the blood. Whilst he is struggling, his brother seems to be fine. For me, ignoring the urge to hunt has given me a clearer mind. But this is only a temporary act until I can discover the cure. Just as Vilkas was explaining his troubles to me, the stranger from my dreams came into the room. She was seeking to join the Companions. From the look in her eyes, it seemed like she had met Vilkas before, the slight blush in her cheeks indicated a small attraction to him... Putting aside the matter, I could see a strong fire of a warrior behind those wide light brown eyes of hers. I've let Vilkas take her out in the yard to test her strength. _

_I later learned that the newcomer went by the name Emalia., it seems that she is the Dragonborn of legend, yet she did not boast of that before. I feel when the time is right, I will reveal to her about my dreams... She is a true warrior, that one... Though she does not bear many scars, she has been through many hardships, I can tell._

_4E 30th Sun's Dusk_

_Emalia is training hard and becoming an excellent warrior, she has just been through her Trial and come out alive. She hasn't been presented with the question of beast blood, but she knows that we bear it. Emalia seems very curious about it as well... Perhaps the time is coming when I must tell her of my dreams. For now I feel that I may have found the cure. Now I believe that there is more behind the dream than I previously thought. Her appearance in the dream may mark her as the next Harbinger of the Companions, when I... Pass to the other realm. In my heart, I know I can trust her. Skjor is too ignorant, Aela is too solitary, Vilkas is too fiery and Farkas is too kind-hearted. Emalia truly holds the best qualities of a warrior and will make a good Harbinger, she will lead the Companions to glory and make us proud. I just wish that I could see her leading the Companions, but I cannot... Fate won't allow it._

**I just couldn't have Vilkas die! I just couldn't! He is obviously gonna stay alive, you just can't kill these people off! There will be a point later on which will be told from Vilkas's point of view, I will be explaining a little bit more about some things which he's experienced. So look forward to that! Anyway, back to the topic of the chapter. Not exactly the same journal entries as the game, but I kinda had to change it slightly to match the story. I'd like to say that this is the chapter where I kind of start to use quite a bit of dragon language. Like I did before, I will put a translation straight after :) Okay that's it! Until next time!**


	11. For Kodlak!

**Another chapter! Yay! This is the chapter where we get a small little peak into Emalia's backstory! I'm just gonna say know that I didn't know much about Bosmer traditions and stuff, so it's a little wonky and twisted a little bit to suit Emalia a little more (I did not realize that Bosmer had to eat whatever they killed and weren't allowed to eat plants or pick them for that matter until literally two days ago) I also wasn't very well versed in the history of Valenwood and stuff, I know that it's part of the Aldmeri Dominion or something (I think...) but I wasn't really sure on how to put it in exactly... So yeah, just bear with the wonky history. Oh! One more thing, I kinda made Emalia a bard (ish) because I've gotten this annoying habit of memorizing the songs from the game, so she will start going all Disney and start singing randomly :P But Vilkas will never sing. Ever.**

Emalia shut the journal and thought about what she had just read. Her, the Harbinger? She shook her head and left the book inside the drawer, Emalia picked the fragment of Wuuthrad up from the floor and slowly walked back to the Skyforge. Eorlund was waiting for her up there. "Ah! You found it! Thank you very much." The blacksmith turned to the forge, which had been cleared up. "The forge glows brighter from the flames of Kodlak's spirit... Perhaps..." Eorlund shook his head. "Ah, no matter. You should head to the Underforge, beneath the Skyforge, the Circle is having a meeting there."

Emalia nodded and walked down the steps. She felt the rocks for the door shaped crack, when she found it, Emalia held a hand to the door and it rumbled open. Emalia walked in, and the door shut again. From deep within, Emalia could hear a heated argument. She silently slipped through the tunnel and entered the main chamber. Vilkas stood in front of Aela, his hands curled into tight fists. Farkas stood in the corner, out of the way of his brother's anger. "Kodlak wished for Sovengard! Not to be the... The play thing for a _daedra_! He wished for the Hall of Valor, not an eternal hunt! Kodlak was a true Nord with a wish, a wish he didn't get!" Vilkas thundered.

Aela crossed her arms, "I don't care of this so called 'curse'. To my eyes it is a gift. Has it not given us strength and made us the greatest warriors of the land?"

"You... Call it... A _gift_? You know, I curse the day I took the blood! How can you call yourself a Nord, Shield Sister, if you do not wish for Sovngarde?" Vilkas bellowed, his expression was twisted into one of terrible anger.

"I am at peace with my beast within, what of you, Vilkas? You've ignored it, but it has been calling to you. I would want nothing more than to hunt with our lord Hircine."

"Not our lord, _your _Lord! I, for one, am a true Nord! You may want to hunt with Hircine, but Kodlak. Wanted. Sovngarde."

Vilkas's eyes blazed with anger as he and Aela argued back and forth, the tone of his voice becoming darker and more furious with his Shield Sister. Emalia knew it was time to step in and stop the fight before it became serious. "_Silence!_" She yelled, her voice thrumming with power.

All eyes were on her. "Aela, I know that you have embraced the beast, but some of us wish to rid ourselves of it. Kodlak really did wish for Sovngarde so very much, we should at least grant him that..." She said in a calmer voice.

Emalia always had an aptitude for persuading and convincing people, it was one of her many skills which had been enhanced when she had found out she was the Dragonborn. Aela's expression immediately softened and she lowered her head. "Forgive me, you are right. Kodlak wanted Sovngarde, and as his Shield Siblings, we should give him that." Aela muttered. "But how do we cure him if he's already..."

Silence hung in the chamber, until Vilkas spoke of the solution. "We must take a Glenmoril witch head to the tomb of Ysgramor, but... The way to the tomb is locked and we don't have Glenmoril witch heads."

The voice of Eorlund Gray-mane came from the shadows. "The way into the tomb is blocked because Wuuthrad isn't with Ysgramor."

Emalia tilted her head in confusion. "So... How do we give Ysgramor his battle axe back? It's in pieces!"

The old blacksmith laughed. "Tools are meant to be broken, and repaired."

Eorlund pulled out a huge battle axe, it's patterns all matched the ones she saw on the fragments, Vilkas gasped. "Wuuthrad... It hasn't been reforged since... Actually, it has never been reforged before!"

"Wuuthrad was reforged by the embers of Skyforge and the flames of Kodlak's spirit, now the way is clear."

Eorlund came over to Emalia and gave her Wuuthrad, the axe was heavy, but she would still be able to wield it. "Now it's just the problem of the witch heads..." Vilkas muttered.

Emalia laughed and pulled the Glenmoril witch head she had collected out of a sack which she had held on to since Kodlak's death. "For Ysgramor! For the glory of the Companions!For Kodlak!" She yelled.

"For Kodlak!" Her Shield Siblings responded.

"We journey to Ysgramor's tomb and bring honour to the Companions!" She yelled, holding Wuuthrad high.

Emalia hastily made a make shift strap for the huge battle axe and gestured for the members of the Circle to follow her. She ran out of the Underforge followed by her Shield Sibling, Emalia had visited the tomb of Ysgramor before... Long ago. She knew it would take at least a week to get there, so they would have to run till dark and wake up at the crack of dawn. She sprinted across the plains of Whiterun, the Circle by her side. All travelers that crossed their path made way for the great warriors. By nightfall, Emalia was drenched in sweat and panting. She flopped down into soft heather and lay there, her eyes drooping in exhaustion. Emalia propped herself upright and helped Aela start a fire, the twins were setting up the sleeping rolls close to them. With her tired fingers, Aela couldn't get any sparks to start a fire. Emalia sighed and leaned close to the pile of wood, she whispered a word of ancient dragon tongue which she had used countless times in a similar situation. "_Yol_..."

A gout of flame crackled from her mouth, setting the wood on fire. Aela stared wide eyed at her. "So you really are Dragonborn..."

Emalia nodded, not saying anything else. She hated it when people treated her as if she was a goddess when she mentioned her title.

Aela rummaged through her knapsack and tossed a small piece of cooked beef to Emalia. "Here, eat this. You need to keep up your strength."

Emalia mumbled her thanks and chewed slowly on her food. She stared into the fire, hypnotized by the way it danced and glowed. Then, she heard screams in the distance. Immediately she jumped up and scanned the plains. "What was that?"

"Necromancers..." Vilkas snarled. "On a moonless night like this, that's when they prey on the living. Take them to perform rituals and sacrifices. Put the fire out, I don't want any of those bastards anywhere near us. I'll tear them to pieces if they get anywhere near me."

Emalia was quite shocked, she had never heard Vilkas speak with such a tone of hatred before. "Why do you hate necromancers so much? Not that I don't..."

"I don't want to talk about it." Vilkas growled.

"But-"

"I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It."

With that, Vilkas walked to the edge of the camp, his back to everyone. Emalia turned to Aela for answers, knowing she could get some information out of her. "Why is he acting like that?"

Aela sighed. "Almost all of the Companions know their story."

"Their story?"

"Vilkas and Farkas. According to what I was told when I was younger, one of the Companions named Jergen and his Shield Brother Arnbjorn were sent on a mission to clear a cave from the mages who had apparently been killing and kidnapping people in Whiterun. They killed all of them and discovered they were necromancers. They wandered around the cave for a while until they found two boys, twins, huddled in a corner. Scared, lonely and crying. The two boys had dark hair and silver eyes, though one had a slightly bluer shade of silver, making his eyes more like ice. Jergen decided he was going to take them back to Jorrvaskr. Later on, when the boys had calmed down, one of the twins told them his name. Vilkas. He told them that his brother was Farkas. They had been taken from their home, which they couldn't remember, and were forced to participate in blood rituals and experiments. If the refused, they were beaten brutally. Jergen never found out where Vilkas and Farkas came from or who their parents were, so he decided to let them stay in Jorrvaskr. Tilma, the housekeeper, took care of them most of the time. But Jergen was like a father to them. One day, Jergen went out to war and... He never came back. He'd been killed. That was a blow to the twins. Vilkas then became the stubborn, broody man that we all know and love. Farkas stayed mostly the same. Soon after that, I joined the ranks of the Companions after my mother died. My mother and her mother and her mother's mother and so on were all Companions, which is why I joined. That's when I met them for the first time, they were at least seventeen at the time... I was twenty three. They took a the test to see if they could join the ranks of the Companions and were accepted. Vilkas and Farkas were known as the youngest Companions ever in history. Soon after that, they ascended to the Circle just after me. Do you now understand why Vilkas hates necromancers so much?"

Emalia nodded slowly, now she understood more. Aela's voice broke her thoughts. "I've told you much of us, what of you? To be honest, I only know that you are a Bosmer, you are Dragonborn and your name is Emalia. Who are you really?"

Emalia sighed and turned back to look at the fire. "I guess one person knowing who I truly am is no harm. Okay, I'll tell you. I grew up in Valenwood, as you probably guessed, but my family was poor and we hardly had enough gold to live. I had to turned to thieving for quite some time just to keep my family alive. Then we discovered my skill with the bow, so I hunted and sold the meat to others. After a while, my family was living a good life. Then my mother succumbed to a disease, she was in agony for two months until... One day... She didn't wake up... My father grieved for her death for nearly a year, then he became harsher, not the kind man who had raised me anymore. I lived with him until I turned twenty summers old. I lived alone for some time, until around a year ago, I wanted to go adventuring. My mother had told me tales of places in Tamriel, the place that called to me the most was Skyrim. I journeyed there only to get captured in an Imperial ambush! I was just about to be executed for _no_ reason when the dragon attacked..."

Aela nodded, "I see... Thank you for sharing your story with me. You should rest now, we have a long journey ahead of us."

* * *

Emalia woke very early the next morning, the sun hadn't eve rose above the horizon. No one else was awake like her. Aela twitched occasionally in her sleep and Farkas snored loudly. Vilkas muttered and thrashed in his sleep as if he was having some sort of a terrible nightmare. Emalia sighed and lay back down again, she was still tired. Just as her mind was about to drift, Vilkas jolted upright, breathing hard. Emalia slowly raised her head and turned to Vilkas, curious of what night horrors plagued him. "What's wrong Vilkas?" She asked softly.

Whatever he had dreamed of, it had most likely stirred the spirit of the wolf within. His eyes flashed feral yellow, like a wolf, and a snarl etched upon his face. Emalia slowly stood up and knelt by Vilkas, staring into his eyes, holding his gaze. "Calm the fire within you, Vilkas." She whispered softly. "Resist the call... _Drem_..."

Her voice was known for it's power, in just seconds the dangerous fire in Vilkas's eyes dimmed and his expression softened. "You were muttering and thrashing in your sleep." Emalia explained.

Vilkas sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "The beast blood refuses to give me a restful sleep, I enjoy dreamless sleeps when I get them."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"It was a dark forest, I was running from _something_ when Hircine's wolves leaped out of nowhere. With their claws and sharp teeth, they ripped at my skin... I tried to escape, but the wolves would find me... Calling my name. Hircine stood above me, laughing at my weak attempts to get away from his grasp..."

Emalia cringed, what an awful dream to be plagued by... She knew well that it must be the result of Vilkas resisting the call of the blood, as she had learnt from Kodlak's journal. Then a silly little idea came to her mind. Emalia remembered when she was just a little girl, she had a terrible nightmare. Her mother had come into her room and started to sing softly to her. Emalia could just grasp the words in her memory and started to sing.

_When the night falls_

_And the stars shine_

_Lay down, under the sky_

_Dream now_

_Drift in your mind_

_Leave all your troubles behind_

_When darkness falls_

_Over your sleep_

_Stay strong_

_Think of my love_

_For you,_

_My dearest one_

_Let the shadows retreat_

_Let your hopes reign_

_Dream of your wishes_

_Dream of your love_

_For me_

When she ended to song, Vilkas looked surprised. "I didn't know you could sing so well!"

Emalia smiled. "I went to the Bards College for a time, they taught me a little bit. Most of the things I did there were fetching old books and ancient instruments, hardly any time to perfect my voice. But I did learn a few songs that you hear in the taverns, you know "The Dragonborn Comes" and "The Age of Aggression". In fact, I think I even learnt "Age of Oppression"!" Then a thought came to mind. "Vilkas, what side of the war to the Companions support?"

Vilkas huffed in annoyance. "Who cares about the war... The Companions aren't ones to get into politics. Elves, an old god, worship, Imperials, Stormcloaks. To be honest, this war is pointless. None of the sides have a good enough cause to make me raise my sword for one, I've also not been one for wars... Yes, I like a good fight. But war is... Different, I guess I could say..."

Emalia nodded thoughtfully. "I think so too... The war is frustrating me a lot as well, each side wants me to join their side. But I don't believe much in the cause. I'm an elf, but not a Thalmor. I don't give a damn about Talos. I also don't really like the Thalmor."

Vilkas chuckled. "You make a fine Companion, Emalia."

Emalia felt like Vilkas had left that sentence unfinished... But then Aela woke up. "Should we get going?" The Huntress muttered, still half asleep.

Emalia nodded. Vilkas stood up and kicked his brother gently. "Farkas, get up. We're moving."

Farkas moaned and got up after a few more words from Vilkas.

**Can you guess why this bit : **Then, she heard screams in the distance. Immediately she jumped up and scanned the plains. "What was that?" **was written in such a way? Anyway, review or like or follow and I'll put up the next chapter soon! Gosh, I really need to stop listening to the Twilight Princess soundtrack whilst typing Skyrim fanfics!**


	12. Challenges, Ghosts Oh Yeah, Spiders

**Another update! I think this is my favourite part in the actual game, aside from the fact that SOMEONE (I'm looking at you Vilkas) wasn't bothered to go dungeon crawling with me and gives me his excuse in poetry ¬_¬ I'm just glad he didn't sing :P Okay, let's get into the chapter shall we?**

The Companions traveled in the same way for the next five days. Running till nightfall and rising once again at the crack of dawn. Finally, they reached Ysgramor's tomb. "There it is... The tomb of Ysgramor and the five hundred Companions." Vilkas said.

Emalia made her way down the steep, icy slope to the tomb. She shuddered at the thought of the horrors within. Without a word, the Companions pushed open the heavy iron doors to the tomb. It was just a single chamber with a statue of Ysgramor standing the the middle, the only thing that was missing was Wuuthrad. "Place Wuuthrad in Ysgramor's hands and the door should open, make your way through the tomb to the main burial chamber. But be cautious, the ghosts of the former Companions will challenge you to see if you are worthy of walking in these ancient halls." Vilkas explained.

"You make it sound like you aren't coming with us..." Emalia whispered.

Vilkas turned around, his eyes filled with sadness. "I won't be coming with you... My heart is clouded with grief, I am not worthy of walking through these halls and seeing Kodlak one last time..." He muttered. "Aela and Farkas will go with you. Protect my brother, will you?"

Emalia nodded slowly. She turned away and slid Wuuthrad into Ysgramor's stone hands. There was a click and the sound of stone scraping against stone. A stone slab in the wall slid down, revealing a passage down into the tomb. Aela and Farkas looked to Emalia, await her command. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." She told them.

Aela's eyes darted to Vilkas and she smiled. "Don't be too long," and with that she darted through the tunnel.

Farkas turned slowly and followed Aela. When they left, Emalia turned to Vilkas and embraced him tightly. "I'm going to do this for Kodlak, and for you." She whispered.

Vilkas stroked her hair and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Stay safe, and make sure Farkas doesn't do anything stupid."

Emalia laughed, "I'll make sure he doesn't blunder into a trap." She released Vilkas from her arms and smiled sadly. "If you hear my voice calling for your help, will you come for me?" Emalia asked quietly.

"I will drive your enemies back to where they came from."

Emalia laughed. "You'll drive the ghosts of the five hundred Companions back to Atmora, or Sovngarde for me?"

Vilkas rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean! Now go, and come back alive."

Emalia nodded and turned around, she heard Vilkas say something softly, but he was to quiet to hear. When Emalia made her way down the tunnel, she thought about what Vilkas might have said... And could have sworn he said "I love you."

Emalia jumped as a ghost formed in front of her, it's features twisted by the ghostly mist which was now it's physical manifestation. She loosed an arrow at the figure, which shrieked and dispatched into nothing but a glowing pile of ooze. She twisted her face into an expression of disgust and stepped over the ghostly remains. She made her way through the passage in front of her and came across a door blocked by thick spiderwebs. Sighing, she pulled out a sword and started to hack at the sticky strands. The spiderweb finally gave way and she started to pull it aside, when the way was clear Aela headed in but not Farkas. Emalia looked over to Farkas, who was staring at the spiderwebs in horror. "Farkas, what's the matter?"

The Companion backed away slightly. "I don't like the big crawly creatures, I just can't take them... I'm sorry, Shield Sister, but every warrior has his limits. This is mine. I'm going to stay back with Vilkas, bring honour to our name, will you?"

Emalia smiled kindly and nodded. "I understand, songs of Jorrvaskr will be sung eras after this!"

Farkas smiled in relief and turned back to the entrance. Emalia took in a shaky breath, for she also had a slight fear of frostbite spiders, and walked through the webs. She remembered on particular incident when she had first arrived in Skyrim when the Jarl of Whiterun, Balgruuf the Greater, had asked her to go into an ancient tomb to retrieve the Dragonstone for his court wizard Farengar Secret-Fire. She had encountered many bandits and at one point Skeevers. After a while she would see spiderwebs almost everywhere, until she came to one huge chamber covered in them! On the other side of the room was a dark elf screaming for help. Then a giant frostbite spider dropped down from the ceiling and started coming towards her. Emalia shook the memory out of her mind for the time being and steeled her nerves. She had faced Alduin, so she could definitely take on some spiders! Emalia caught up with Aela and they walked forward slowly, waiting for a spider to drop from the ceiling. Emalia heard something crawling to them, she turned around quickly and readied an arrow. A huge spider hissed and spat venom at them, the two Companions jumped out of the way quickly. Emalia let her arrow fly into the disgusting creature. The arrow lodged itself deep in the spider, the spider screeched before falling limp to the ground. Emalia prodded the thing with the end of her bow to make sure it was dead and retrieved her arrow. "I hope that's the last of them..." She muttered.

But Emalia knew well where one frostbite spider was, many others were waiting.

"Ew..." Emalia muttered

She stepped over the pile of dead frostbite spiders and ran to the door leading to the next chamber. She pushed to heavy doors open and franticly brushed all of the spiderwebs off her armor. Emalia shuddered and continued to cringe in disgust. Aela came over and started to laugh. "I've never seen the mighty Dragonborn cower at such small prey..." She laughed.

Emalia narrowed her eyes, "Aela, shut up."

The Huntress continued to laugh to herself, Emalia sighed and decided to ignore her. She continued down the passage that lay before her, blanketed in spiderwebs. Soon after, the spider webs dispersed and the passage started to twist around and trick Emalia. The way forward was almost always hidden in the wall or the coffin of one of the dead Companions. When she thought that the tomb's tunnel would never end, a giant doorway appeared around the corner. "At last..." She muttered in relief.

Emalia pushed the huge doors open and gasped at the chamber. It was huge and a glowing blue flame flickered in the middle of the chamber. Coffins and intricate stone structures lined the walls, and on the other side of the chamber was a large coffin, Ysgramor's final resting place... Emalia walked forward, still marveling at the amazing chamber, and realized that she and Aela were not alone. A ghost appeared out of nowhere, warming it's hands by the fire. "Ah, Shield Sisters... It's good to see you again."

Emalia gasped. "Kodlak!" She squealed.

She ran forward and stopped just in front of the ghost, knowing she would just pass right through his body. "It is I, Emalia, this is the Flame of the Harbinger. All of the souls of the Harbingers in the last hundred years are here, hiding from Hircine. That is what I am doing here, keeping the terrible beast at bay."

Emalia looked around, searching for other ghosts. "But... You're the only spirit I can see..."

"Because I am the only Harbinger who you have met and understood. Now, what brings you to this tomb? Come to see the spirit of your Harbinger one last time?"

Emalia shook her head. "No. Vilkas said that there is still a way to cure you!"

Kodlak nodded. "Did he now... The lad is intelligent and might be right, perhaps you should try. Do you still have the head of the Glenmoril witch?"

Emalia pulled the sack which she kept the gruesome spoil of war to show to Kodlak. The spirit smiled and gestured to the flames. "Throw the head into the fire."

Emalia walked forward and tossed the sack into the flames, the material of the sack burned and revealed the head of the witch. It seemed to come alive and mouthed one final screech before the skin was burnt in the flames. Red mist circled Kodlak's spirit, he writhed in agony as if something was being pulled from his soul. His spirit crumpled to the floor and from his mouth came his wolf spirit, a large beast with pale fur, snarling and slowly approaching Emalia. She quickly pulled out her bow and leaped to one side as the beast spirit charged towards her with uncontrolled rage. Emalia notched an arrow into her bow and pulled the bow string back to her cheek, the feathers tickled her cheek and she breathed slowly as she aimed at the wolf spirit. Her arms trembled as the energy was slowly drained from her limbs from holding the bowstring back so hard and for so long, but she had to do so. Then the spirit turned to her, it's eyes filled with beastly anger. It leaped in the air and Emalia let the arrow fly. It sunk into the beast, which crashed into the ground immediately and jerked stiffly as the arrow toyed with it's muscles. With one final spasm, it lay limp and dissolved into ash. Emalia collected her arrow and hurried over to where Kodlak's spirit lay. "Kodlak! I killed the beast!"

The Harbinger's spirit struggled as he stood up, Kodlak smiled kindly and sighed in relief. "I feel... Alive... Thank you, Emalia, you have saved my soul from Hircine's wolves. My dreams were correct after all, I can't repay you enough for what you have done! It is a shame that the other Harbingers can't be healed from this curse. Perhaps I could rally the spirits of Sovngarde to attack the Hunting Grounds and reclaim all of the spirits! 'The Harrowing of the Hunting Grounds' what a battle that would be! Imagine the songs sang of our victory... But that is for another time. For now, I thank you. You have proven yourself worthy of the title 'Harbinger of the Companions'."

With one final sigh, Kodlak's spirit was gone. Emalia stood shocked, Kodlak had just named her the Harbinger of the Companions! Aela ran up to her, her mind most likely in the same confusion Emalia's was in. "Did I hear right? You are to be the new Harbinger?"

Emalia nodded. "Yes, Kodlak said that... Do you think I'm not worthy?"

"No! Not at all!" Aela laughed, "I think you are the bravest woman I have ever met! We should tell the others of this!"

Emalia laughed and nodded in agreement.

**And so ends the Companions quest line :( But our tale is not over yet! Please review, like and follow and I'll have an update VERY soon!**


	13. And the Dragon's Name Was Odahviing!

**Enter main quest line spoilers! Here's the new chapter, enjoy! I just wanna note that I took a few little quotes from the game and tweaked them to match the story, now I hope you like this part of the story! This is where I really start to be bothered to write more fighting scenes XD kinda...**

Emalia emerged from the passage and found Vilkas and Farkas whispering nervously to each other, the tone of their voices worried. They soon saw Emalia and Vilkas's eyes widened. "You made it!"

Emalia nodded. "I cured Kodlak! He also said that I was to be the new Harbinger."

Vilkas's eyes narrowed. "You are going to be the Harbinger? You know, if you had told me that some outsider who I had never heard of before would be the Harbinger I might have slit your throat for telling me such nonsense! But now, I couldn't agree more. You are going to be the most amazing Harbinger, Emalia, I can just feel it."

Emalia smiled at such encouraging words, "thank you, Vilkas. Now, should we get back to Jorrvaskr?"

Vilkas shook his head. "You can go ahead, I want to look at these stones a while... They are ancient and the architecture of this tomb is amazing. I won't have a chance like this any time soon..."

Emalia laughed, out goes the warrior and here's the scholar. She nodded understandably and sighed. "Well... I guess I must say goodbye right now..."

Vilkas's head jerked up. "What?"

"I... I must pursue my destiny, Vilkas. I am the Dragonborn of legend, and I must vanquish Alduin... When we first met, I was heading to an ancient Dwemer ruin to find the _Kel_... I mean Elder Scroll. I found out the method to kill Alduin, the _dovah _who will swallow the world. Sorry about the dragon language, I've been hanging around people who use such an ancient language when talking about my destiny... I don't like talking about it that much to... Um... Normal people..."

Emalia could feel tears in the corners of her eyes, because she knew that there was a chance that she could die... One tear trickled down her cheek, for her fear of dying overcame anything else. Vilkas walked up to her and brushed the tear away. "I will accompany you until I can go no further."

* * *

"Now, Dragonborn! Call this beast to Dragonsreach!"

Emalia heeded the Jarl's order and stepped forward to the walls of the grand balcony, she took in a deep breath and looked up to the sky. "_Od... Ah Viing!_"

Her shout echoed all around, the true power of her voice lingering in her ears. She had been told by the Greybeards three weeks ago to call the dragon Odahviing, a minion of Alduin, and try get him to tell her where Alduin's portal to Sovngarde was. Emalia had managed to convince the Jarl of Whiterun, Balgruuf, to let her use the ancient trap in Dragonsreach. Around her were many Whiterun guards, the Jarl and his housecarl and lastly the Companions. Standing beside her was Vilkas, gazing up at the sky looking for the dragon. A thundering roar could be heard in the distance, then came the leathery flapping of dragon wings. Emalia's heart was pumping, then a deep voice echoed from above. "So... The _Dovahkiin _calls me, try fight me, mortals! Fear the Thu'umof Odahviing!"

A huge red dragon swooped down and let out a gout of fire. Emalia responded with the most terrible shout to dragons. "_Joor... Zah Frul!_" She bellowed.

Light enveloped Odahviing and the great dragon was forced to land on the balcony. Odahviing looked around for Emalia and started to crawl towards her. She ran over to the back of the balcony, where the dragon trap was set, and waited for Odahviing to come for her. Soon enough, Odahviing had walked right under the trap. Emalia yelled out a command and one of the Whiterun guards yanked on the chain which activated the mechanism. A thick bar of wood fell from the ceiling and trapped the dragon underneath it, chains sprung out and wrapped around Odahviing's body and wings, preventing him from struggling or flying. Another metal bar fastened under Odahviing's neck, pressing him against the wooden bar. Odahviing was trapped. Emalia walked up to the dragon, a smug grin on her face. "Odahviing! _Hin viing lost sahlo, hin sil joor." Your wings have been weakened, your soul mortal..._

The dragon growled. "_Fahliil Dovahkiin, _you have bested me... I answered your call to see your strength, for there has not been a Dovahkiin for a long time. Your Thu'um is strong, young one, very strong... Tell me, why have you used the _feyn _of the _dov_ upon me? Why have you trapped me in this humiliating position?"

Emalia switched back to the common tongue, upon discovering that the dragon could speak it. "I am the Dragonborn, as you know, and it is my destiny to rid this land of the terrible threat Alduin, your leader, _dovah._ I fought him atop the Throat of the World and he fled to Sovngarde, through a portal, as Paarthurnax told me, to devour the souls of the dead to gain power... I trapped you here to ask you a simple question: Where is this portal to Sovngarde?"

Odahviing huffed. "Why should I tell you? Why should I reveal the secret of my leader to a mere mortal?"

Anger boiled within Emalia. "_ODAHVIING!" _She shouted, forcing the dragon to listen to her voice, "I will ask once more. Where is the portal to Sovngarde?" Emalia asked with a menacing tone.

The dragon remained silent, and Emalia waited. "Well? Will you answer? Or should I leave you here in this trap?"

Odahviing's expression changed to one of surprise. "You are stronger than you look, threatening a dragon with such threats... Perhaps I should blast fire at you for such a puny threat..."

Emalia crossed her arms. "I would answer your Thu'um then. I want to know where this portal is without hurting you, or else I may _accidentally _rip your immortality from your soul and steal your soul as I have done to almost every other dragon. Or... I could leave you here as a test subject for the court wizard, he is _very _interested in dragons you know... And I'm not very sure that all of his experiments are pleasant."

The red dragon considered her new threat and sighed. "Well, I must admit, your Thu'um is very strong... The reason why I answered your call was to test your strength... You see, some of the _dov _are starting to doubt Alduin, see him as weak... I am one of the _dovah _who think such a thing... Very well, if you free me I shall tell you where the portal is."

"That won't be happening until you've told me where the portal is and Alduin lies dead." Emalia said firmly.

Odahviing growled, "I do not like the terms, but I shall agree. Alduin escaped to Sovngarde through a portal located in Skuldafn, an ancient temple to the east of here. Hidden in the mountains."

Emalia thanked the dragon and turned around, just then Odahviing revealed the catch. "Oh! I forgot to mention! Skuldafn cannot be reached by a mere mortal, only a _dovah _can fly there... There would be no other dragon willing to... Shame..."

With a sigh, Emalia turned around to face the smug dragon. "I will only let you free if you are to serve me."

"If you are able to defeat Alduin, I swear that I shall serve you, _Dovahkiin_."

Satisfied with the terms she had come up with, Emalia ordered for the trap to be reset. When freed, Odahviing stretched his wings and shivered from the tip of the nose to the tail spikes. "It is a relief to be out of such an uncomfortable position!"

Odahviing made his way to the edge of the balcony and awaited Emalia. She walked up to the dragon and took a deep breath. Emalia turned to look over at Vilkas, and quickly asked Odahviing a question. "Could you carry two?"

"I am sorry, Dovahkiin, but I cannot."

Emalia nodded sadly and walked over to Vilkas. "I must go alone, I'm sorry... I wish you could be there with me... I'll need all the support I can get during this journey..."

Vilkas sighed, sadness in his eyes. "I understand, just come back to us safely and I won't go mad."

Emalia laughed softly and ran her fingers through her hair. "I guess I'll be gone for a week, by then I should have returned to Jorrvaskr and... Hopefully I'll be alive..."

Silence hung in the air, unshed tears blurred Emalia's vision. After a few moments a sob escaped her lips and she wrapped her arms tightly around Vilkas. "I'm going to miss you so much..." She whispered tearfully.

"As will I, just return alive and whole and tell me what Sovngarde looks like."

Emalia pulled herself away reluctantly and walked up to Odahviing. "Okay Odahviing, I'm ready. Take me to Sovngarde."

The dragon chuckled. "Very well, hold on to my horns whilst we fly! I wouldn't want you to fall! But be warned, flying with a _dovah _will make your jealous for us grow."

"Since when did I say I was jealous of your kind?"

Emalia leaped elegantly upon the dragon's neck and positioned herself between the spines that ran down Odahviing's neck and back. She held onto the horns that curled back from the back of the dragon's head and tapped her foot lightly against Odahviing's scales. "Let us fly."

Emalia looked back to lay her eyes on Vilkas one last time. The old times with the Companions brought a smile to her lips, she mouthed goodbye just before Odahviing leaped into the air and left Whiterun... To Skuldafn...

* * *

Wind whistled in Emalia's ears as Odahviing soared through the sky. The ground was so far away, trees were specks to her eyes and streams looked like veins filled with shimmering blue fluids. She closed her eyes and listened to the calming sound of the rhythmic flapping of dragon wings, but the constant movement was starting to make Emalia rather nauseous... Up and down... Up and down... Emalia cast her eyes to the horizon, gazing at the dying rays of the sun in the horizon. The moons could be faintly seen in the pale pink sky, a sky that was quickly darkening. At this rate, she would arrive in Skuldafn by nightfall, but her impatience was gnawing at her mind. "Odahviing, how much longer?" She asked over the wind.

The dragon merely laughed. "Not too long now! The _dovah _can fly for a long time and fly far... Do not worry, we shall be there soon."

Emalia huffed in annoyance and tightened her grip on the long horns she was holding. "I hope we get there soon... I'm getting rather nauseous from the movement, but I guess it would be worse having to hike all of the way to Skuldafn!"

Odahviing didn't reply, he was most likely annoyed with Emalia's constant pestering. She groan, but then came up with a funny little idea. "Hey, Odahviing! Would you like to hear a little melody? I made it up myself!"

He still didn't reply, Emalia decided she would start to sing anyway.

_Riding on a dragon_

_Oh yes I am!_

_Riding!_

_On a grumpy grumpy dragon!_

_With a terrible roar_

_He makes people tremble_

_But not me!_

_Because I'm riding on him!_

_Oh! I try to talk_

_I try to entertain_

_But no,_

_He's to grumpy!_

_Reminds me of_

_A friend back home_

_Oh yes indeed he does!_

_A Companion back home!_

_Perhaps I'll tell my friend_

_Of the grumpy dragon_

_I ride now!_

_The very grumpy dragon!_

_What was his name?_

_He'll ask_

_What colour were his scales?_

_He'll inquire_

_And I'll reply to him_

_Oh he was red_

_And grumpy_

_And called Odahviing!_

If Odahviing was annoyed, he didn't say anything. Emalia moaned and complained on purpose for the rest of the flight just trying to get the dragon to talk. But he didn't...

**I made up the song randomly on the spot, since Emalia's kind of a bard :P Yeah, Emalia hates loading screens... XD They take too long. Anyway, Emalia will get to get a glimpse at Sovngarde soon! One of my favourite places in Skyrim... By the way guys, you know how I said that Emalia didn't pursue her destiny until three weeks AFTER the Greybeards told her what to do? Well, you'll find out what she's done during those three weeks later. Companions quest related :)**

ONE LAST THING! I am starting to write something about the two DLCs in Skyrim using this Emalia, once I'm finished 'Challenges of a Warrior' I'll put that story up! By the way... I'm pretty sure no one's written a fanfic centered on the characters I'm writing about in the other fanfic I'm starting to write :D, here's the title: "The Last of the Forgotten" so look out for it once 'Challenges of a Warrior' is done!


	14. Thoughts

**Here's the next chapter update! I decided to write it from Vilkas's POV :D It's hard but fun! Now we get to see what Vilkas thinks about stuff! Yay! Okay, I got nothing more to rant about. Story time!**

Vilkas swished the mead in his tankard, staring at it unappealingly. The only think he could think of was Emalia. There was no woman who had ever toyed with his mind as much as Emalia... No other woman he had met during all of his thirty-one years had the same charm or cheerfulness as Emalia. The blush in her cheeks whenever she hastily attempted to hide the fact that she loved him. Without her, everything just seemed so... Dull... There was no life in the hall of Jorrvaskr anymore. He had to admit that when Ria had first joined, Vilkas did think she was quite pretty and full of life. Then he met Emalia, shivering from the cold of Skyrim... When he hardly knew her, there was always something so strange about her... Despite her quiet voice, there was power behind every word she uttered. Every breath was deep, as if her lungs were of a dragon's instead of a Bosmer. Her laugh made the room flow with life. Her dark brown hair, despite how tangled it was, was silky and soft. Her eyes, dark amber and shining, were always wide with wonder, laughter and amazement. Everything about her was so perfect, her hair, her lips, her voice... Nobody to match her... Emalia was so brave and willing to do anything to help people! Even willing to give her life energy to someone to let them live once again... Vilkas couldn't think of anyone as selfless as her. The sound of a chair being dragged against the floor took Vilkas out of his thoughts. "You going to finish that?" Farkas asked, gesturing to the tankard that was in Vilkas's hands.

Vilkas shook his head and pushed it away from him. "What's on your mind, brother? You haven't uttered a word since we returned to the hall... It's getting a little worrying..."

"I'm just thinking..."

Farkas laughed. "You're always thinking! I was just asking _what _you were thinking about. I'm just kind of curious."

Vilkas looked over to his twin and sighed. "I was thinking about Emalia..."

"Ah..."

A silence hung in the air afterwards, Vilkas knew that Farkas couldn't think of anything to say. His brother never really was that bright, or good with words... After a while, Vilkas stood up and announced that he needed some fresh air. He walked out of the hall silently and sat down on one of the benches that lined the training grounds. Vilkas thought back to all of the good times with Emalia. The first time he trained her, the feeling of doubt crossing his mind after he had disarmed her, and then she lashed back at him with the speed of lightning and the power of a dragon. Vilkas sighed, he really didn't know what he was up against for the first time in his life. With no scars to show her feats in battle, he had no clue on how immensely strong she was. Well, until it came to snow... Then there was the time he had caught her gazing up at the stars, her consciousness elsewhere. During that time he could hear the call of the blood, it's haunting voice echoing in his mind... Calling the beast within. Emalia has lazily opened her eyes and commented on the beautiful night, but he forced her to go. The wolf within twisted his thoughts, making it seems as if Emalia was prey, not his Shield Sister. He barely managed to escaped to the Underforge when the uncontrollable spasms which took hold of him when he resisted the call came. Sweat coating his skin, Vilkas had leaned against the stone walls of the Underforge, panting and shivering. In his mind, a terrible war was occurring. His human spirit wrestling with the huge dark wolf with his silver eyes. A growl escaped his lips as the wolf was starting to wear his human spirit down. But then, the thought of Emalia filled his mind with strength, and he drove the beast back to the dark corners of his mind. The intense pain in his chest was gone, so were the violent spasms. Vilkas had realized at that moment how much this new girl meant to him... She was more than just a new blood in the Companions, Emalia was just so different... Kind, strong, fiery and beautiful... At that moment Vilkas knew that Emalia was the one he wanted to spend his life with. At first he didn't know how Emalia felt about him, so he didn't say anything about it. Covering his love for her much better than Emalia herself. Constant blushing, giggling, smiling and always trying to avoid him. The best day of his life was when Emalia finally admitted how much she loved him... It was killing him to know if she did or not the moments before, he felt so much relief when Ria had squealed out the answer he was so desperately searching for! His days after that day were filled with happiness and her... But it all changed so quickly... Skjor had managed to convince her to take the blood of the beast. When he hadn't found her in her room the next morning, he was ready to throttle Skjor for such a brash decision. But soon he had been informed that his Shield Brother was dead... Emalia would go missing for days on end, and when she did come back to Jorrvaskr, she would go immediately to Aela and leave after that. Soon, she went to talk to Kodlak and went missing for around a week. Then the Silver Hand came...

All the newer recruits knew about the Silver Hand was that they hated the Companions and they had killed Skjor, nothing more than that. The Silver Hand came so fast, and in numbers, Vilkas remembered whipping his head around just when a silver war axe dug itself deep into Kodlak's skull. He remembered the expression on the old Harbinger's face, one of horror, one of realization that he would never see Sovngarde. In fury, Vilkas had ran his sword through Kodlak's killer and watched as the man's soul left his fearful eyes. With so much blood and battle raging around him, the wolf was straining to be free. But then she came in. Vilkas had yelled at her and blamed her for Kodlak's death without realizing what he was saying. When he went to seek out revenge, Emalia had followed. Though he let her follow him to the Silver Hand fort, Vilkas forced Emalia to wait for him as he delved into the fortress, despite all of her protests. One of the most unwise decisions he had ever made... Vilkas remembered the fiery pain that exploded in his side as that silver sword was driven into his side, he remember the cruel smile of the Silver Hand and the sound of his cries of pain echoing in his ears. "Pathetic lycanthrope..." The Silver Hand had muttered as he twisted the blade. Another cry escaped Vilkas's lips as the Silver Hand yanked the sword out of him. With the last of his power, he cut down the Silver Hand... By the time Emalia had found him, Vilkas could already hear the howling of Hircine's wolves, eager to drag him off to their lord. Soon... Darkness took him... But Emalia begged him to return to her, and he fought to be back with the one he loved.

Vilkas dragged himself away from the memories and opened his eyes to the reality, Emalia wasn't going to be there all the time... She had a path laid out for her... One that he could follow her on. He watched as the stars started to glitter in the sky, much like how Emalia's eyes shone whenever the prospect of proving herself to the Companions arose. Vilkas sighed sadly, everything reminded him of her... Everything... Heck, even the dirt reminded him of the state of Emalia's hair whenever she came back from a wild task that another Companion may have set for her, all tangled and dirty with tufts of grass sticking out of it. Despite the state of her hair, skin and armor, she seemed to almost always have a smile on her face... _I'm surprised I never got the hang of giving her a nickname like 'Smiley' or something..._ Vilkas thought with a small laugh.

Another thought made him laugh even more, _Just imagine what she would have said about me laughing just then... "By the divines! You actually laughed! Vilkas, the grumpiest of all of the Companions, actually laughed"_

The laughter died quickly when he thought about the situation Emalia was really in. He looked up to the stars and whispered under his breath, "Emalia... Just come back to Jorrvaskr safely..."

**There we are! Please review, like and follow this fanfic and I'll update soon! See ya!**


	15. Beware, Beware, The Dragonborn Comes

**This chapter was so annoying to write... SO MUCH DRACONIC! But it was also awesome to write, I loved listening to the Sovngarde theme to help me write this! It's amazing how much music can help you when you are writing, especially when the song fits! Anyway, it's time to return to the world of Skyrim and watch as Emalia nears her enemy blah blah blah let's get this story started!**

"Why won't you just stay dead!" Emalia shrieked as she shot countless arrows at the army of draugr charging towards her.

She had quite enough with these undead spawns of Oblivion, every time one came alive Emalia would scream at the top of her lungs, stupidly waking all of the other draugr up. Sooner or later, she would run into a Draugr Death Overlord and end up with the whole army against her, angered that she woke them up. Soon, one of the draugr came up and unleashed terrible words upon her. "_Fus... Ro DAH!"_

Emalia was blasted off her feet and thrown against one of the tall stone pillars that dominated the chamber she was in. She heard a crack as she smashed against the stone, terrible pain flooded through her body at that moment, but she couldn't give up! She staggered to her feet, and let the draugr army approach. "Ah! I've nearly forgotten my manners! You greet me as a _dovah_? I must respond in such a way as well! _Krii... Lun Aus!" Kill... Leech... Suffer... _The words of the deadly shout 'Marked for Death'...

The affects of the shout took place almost immediately. Weaker, or weakened, draugr fell to their knees almost immediately, and not soon after they fell limp to the ground. The stronger draugr attempted to get away, but the shout did it's work quickly. All of them sank to their knees and the life, if you could call it life, faded in them. Emalia sighed in relief. "Well that's done... I can finally get on with this quest and kill Alduin!" _And reunite with the Companions once again!_

Emalia drank a healing potion bottle dry within seconds - And yes, she finally remembered she needed to bring healing potions - Soon, she could feel her bones shifting back into place and her skin knitting back together again. It was only a matter of seconds before she could feel absolutely no pain in her body again. Emalia tossed the empty bottle away and started to delve deeper into Skuldafn Temple. Odahviing had left her at the entrance of the huge place, and he hadn't told her that the temple was crawling with draugr! Or dragons! She had come face-to-face with two already! That adds up to her total of seventeen dragons slain so far... Or was it twenty one? Emalia never bothered to keep count of how many dragons she had stolen the souls from. When Emalia thought her legs were going to give way from nonstop walking and fighting, she finally reached the door to the portal. A cry of relief and happiness burst from her lips as new strength bubbled in her veins, she flung the doors open and breathed the fresh air once again. But that joy was short lived, a group of draugr came from around the corner, weapons ready. "More draugr come to face their deaths? Okay, please prepare yourselves for an eternal slumber as I send an arrow through your un beating hearts!"

Emalia fought her way to the highest stone spire, and nearly fell from the thin path too, and at last... She reached the portal. A dragon priest stood before the portal, arms raised, chanting in the ancient dragon language. The dragon priest turned to face Emalia and it's shriveled lips were pulled into a cruel smile. "_Zu'u uth nall thurri dein daar miiraak." I was ordered by my overlord to guard this portal. "Hin laas los dii, Fahliil Dovahkiin!" Your life is mine, Elf Dragonborn!_

Emalia laughed and stroked the smooth wood of her bow. "_Aav hin fron ko Sovngarde..." Join your kin in Sovngarde._

She whipped out an arrow and pulled the bowstring back to her cheek with lightening speed, she was thankful for the wisdom of the stars she received some time ago... Thank the divines that Vilkas didn't force her back into Jorrvaskr earlier than he did that night. Emalia let the arrow fly and it thunked into the dragon priest's cold, glowing blue eyes. It let out an unearthly screech and summoned an icy spear in it's hands. Emalia dove to the side as the dragon priest threw it's icy javelin. There was a sharp _crash _and shards of the icicle spear flew in the air. Emalia thrust her arm up to shield her face from the shards. Sharp stings of pain made Emalia's arm freeze and go numb. But she wouldn't give up so easily... She was now stronger, and much more powerful. Emalia took out a healing potion and ripped the cork off with her teeth. She downed the contents of the potion and waited a few short moments as her arm was quickly mended. Emalia pulled out another arrow and shot the dragon priest again. It growled in the ancient dragon language again, something about cursing her soul... Taking her chance, Emalia dashed forward her dagger. She grabbed a fistful of the dragon priest's ragged robes and thrust the dagger straight through it's chest. It's eyes widened before it crumbled to ashes. The ash was blown away in the wind, leaving behind a mask made of black metal. On the inner face of the mask were some runes written in dragon language. "_Nahkriin_... Vengeance.." Emalia muttered.

She held it in her hands for a while, not sure what to do with the mask. But then she remembered a spell which an old man had taught her quite a while back, she couldn't remember the man's face or where she was, just the spell. The incantation was done in draconic, no wonder she remembered it! Emalia set the mask in front of her and she knelt down, her hands over the mask. "_Kaan, vahdin se Lok, aal hin aak Nahkriin kotin fin _Labyrinthian_, fah fin Dovahkiin..." Kyne, maiden of the Sky, may you guide Nahkriin to the _Labyrinthian, _for the Dragonborn... _

The wind around her twisted and let out gusts of strong wind which made Emalia's hair whip her eyes and shoulders. With one flash, the mask was gone. She smiled and turned to the portal. "Time to finish this, Alduin."

Emalia grabbed her bow and leaped into the glowing portal, to Sovngarde...

When the light faded, Emalia gasped at the sight of Sovngarde. It would have been beautiful, if not for the thick fog which obscured her vision. It was as if the sky were a mix of night and day. A blazing sun, glowing brilliant white, yellow, orange, red and green shone amidst millions of stars all different colours. The colour of the sky itself seemed to change every moment. Shifting from blue, to dark blue, to purple, to turquoise and back to blue. It was breath-taking... Then a sky shattering roar, or Thu'um, made the ground shake and the fog thicken. "_Ven... Mul Riik!"_

Through the fog, Emalia could make out the shape of a huge black dragon. "Alduin..." She hissed under her breath.

She was just about to dash the direction Alduin was, but then a ghostly Stormcloak soldier dashed out of the fog. "Don't go in there! The World Eater devours souls and makes them part of his power!"

"Whoa! Slow down! Can you explain what happened?" Emalia asked softly.

The soldier took a shaky breath and told his tale. "I was slain in battle by the Imperials... And like any heroic Nord, Sovngarde awaited me. Little did I know, the World Eater-"

"You mean Alduin, right?"

"Don't speak his name!" The soldier cried out fearfully. "The World Eater had returned, he had traveled to Sovngarde to feast on the souls of the departed. My fellow soldiers were devoured by the god of destruction, and I barely escaped with my... Well, my soul! Where are you going, wandering soul?"

Emalia decided not to mention that she was still alive. "I... I... Um..."

"I gather you're heading to the Hall of Valor, where all the heroes of old feast and drink."

Emalia knew immediately that was where she would want to go. "Yes! Yes, I am heading there!"

"It's through the fog, this stone path leads there. You can just see the tallest spires of the hall in the distance!"

Emalia peered through the fog and saw that the soldier's words were true, for she could see the spires of a tall, and long, hall in the distance. "It doesn't seem too far..."

"Please! Guide me there! I fear that the World Eater will swallow my soul! Your soul glows bright with power, you are a force to be reckoned with, so I feel that I may be safer... But only Shor knows if I will be truly safe..."

Emalia felt sympathy for the poor soldier, who may not be able to make it to the Hall of Valor... Despite her doubt, she let the poor soul follow her as far as he could go. Emalia took out her bow and pulled out an arrow, just for caution. On the path, she saw many more wandering souls, all calling for a savior from the terrible dragon Alduin. _Is it too late to save them? Have I ignored the call of destiny for too long? _Emalia thought to herself sullenly.

She continued on the path until suddenly a dark shadow passed over her. There was a scream as the soldier was picked up from the ground and his screams died down as he disappeared in Alduin's maw. Emalia swallowed thickly and started to sprint along the path, her fear of Alduin overtaking her mind. Her breaths came as short puffs, she was barely able to take in any of the cold air into her as she ran. A loose stone made her fall to the ground. The impact jarred her wrists and made her arms ache. She slowly flexed her wrists before she got herself back to her feet. Emalia looked back fearfully before continuing along the path. Finally, the fog started to clear and she could see the Hall of Valor clearly. A huge whalebone bridge arched over a bottomless void, and guarding the entrance to the bridge was a tall, and very muscular, warrior. His hair was quite a light brown and fell just below his shoulders and his eyes were quite a brilliant blue. Strapped across his back was a mighty battle axe. If Emalia had remembered her history right, this must be none other than Tsun, the ancient god of trials... She slowly approached the god and bowed her head in respect. "What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wonder here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to the honoured dead?" He asked with his deep, heavily accented, voice.

"I seek entrance to the Hall of Valor."

Tsun looked at Emalia and narrowed his eyes. "No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare the land of the dead. By what right do you request entry?"

Emalia thought for a moment, and came up with her answer. "By right of glory, I lead the Companions of Jorrvaskr! By right of birth, I am Dragonborn!"

The god smiled. "Ah! It has been too long since I last faced a doom-driven hero of dragon blood... I welcome the chance to challenge the blade of Ysgramor's heir, honoured Shield Sister to Kodlak Whitemane, whom I have watched for in vain."

A heavy weight of sadness fell upon Emalia's shoulders, Kodlak was somewhere in the mist, searching for the Hall of Valor which he dreamed for. She knew more than ever that she needed to slay Alduin! "Can I enter the Hall of Valor?"

"Living or dead, by the decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge till I judge them worthy by the warrior's test."

Tsun pulled out his huge battle axe and stood ready for battle. Emalia readied her bow and gave Tsun a questioning look. "You don't mind if I use my most favored weapon, right?"

"So long as it is a weapon."

As soon as the last words of his reply left his mouth, he leaped forward. Emalia jumped to one side and let out a sigh of relief when she was the battle axe sink into the ground where she was standing before. While Tsun was pulling his battle axe from the stone path, Emalia took the opportunity to release an arrow, what was the harm anyway? He was a spirit, a god, an immortal deity. Her arrow embedded itself deep into Tsun's shoulder. He howled in pain, the god tore the arrow from his arm without a word and glared at Emalia, who had leaped up on broken pillar, out of reach from Tsun's might battle axe. He scanned the pillar and looked up at Emalia, and soon realized there would be no way to get to her. "You have proven yourself well, with the bow and your quick wit. You may pass to the Hall of Valor."

Emalia jumped off the pillar and landed softly on her feet, she flashed a victorious smile at Tsun and sprinted across the bridge. She jumped from bone to bone as she crossed the perilous bridge, when she thought that she could jump no more. She took in a breath as she stared at the beautiful hall. But something made her sad about looking at this ancient hall... The carvings and the architecture reminded her too much of Jorrvaskr, but this hall was huge and a lot taller! Emalia wiped away the tears which were starting to trickle down her cheeks and pushed the huge oaken doors open. Emalia's eyes widened at the sight of Shor's Hall. It was amazing... Huge braziers and torches lit the massive hall, along with the long fire that stretched from one end of the hall to the other. Long tables covered with golden goblets flowing with mead and silver platters piled with food lined the hall. From the high ceilings, banners with all sorts of emblems fluttered in the gentle wind that blew from the open windows up on the roof, ornate stone carvings spiraled from wall to wall and warriors feasted and sang songs of their battles, victories and death. Then a deep, hearty voice with an accent not like the Nords spoke from somewhere behind Emalia. "Welcome, Dragonborn!"

Emalia spun around to see who it was talking. A tall man with blue eyes and long golden hair, and beard, stood behind her. His face, neck and arms were marked with may scars from battles in the past. He wore ancient Nord armor and strapped to his back was a very familiar battle axe... Wuuthrad... Emalia soon realized who she was looking at. The revered leader of the five hundred Companions... Ysgramor... "Our doors have stood empty since Alduin first set his soul-snare here. By Shor's command we sheathed our blades and ventured not the vale's dark mist. But three await your word to loose their fury upon the perilous foe. Gormlaith the Fearless, glad-hearted in battle; Hakon the Valiant, heavy handed warrior; Felldir the Old, far seeing and grim. Speak with them, seal Alduin's doom!"

Emalia smiled, "For the Companions." She whispered.

She didn't know if Ysgramor heard her or not, because she quickly left to see the heroes of old. When Emalia did find them, she recognized them as the heroes in her vision when she had learnt Dragonrend. She slowly approached them, her eyes wide in wonder. Gormlaith turned around and flashed Emalia a smile. "At long last! Alduin's doom is now ours to seal – just speak the words and with high hearts we'll hasten forth to smite the worm wherever he lurks!"

Felldir stepped forward, shaking his head. "Hold, comrades – let us take counsel before this battle is blindly joined. Alduin's mist is more than a snare – it's shadowy gloom is his shield and cloak. But with our voices joined, our valor combined, we can blast the mist and bring him to battle."

Hakon nodded slowly. "Felldir speaks wisdom..." He turned to Emalia, "The World Eater, the coward, fears you, Dragonborn. We must drive away his mist, Shouting together, and then unsheathe our blades in a desperate battle with our black-winged foe!"

"To battle, my friends!" Gormlaith yelled, unsheathing her sword, "The fields will echo with the clamor of war, our wills undaunted!"

Hakon took out his battle axe. "For the glorious dead!"

Felldir unsheathed his greatsword. "For the Dragonborn!"

Emalia smiled and took out her bow and held it high. "Then let us vanquish this foe for once and for all! May Alduin and all of his kin tremble upon hearing the might of our Voices!"

All of the heroes in the hall cheered and held their weapons high. "For Glory!" They cried.

Emalia smiled and turned back to Gormlaith, Hakon and Felldir. "May this battle go down in the ages to come."

With that she raced out of the hall and across the bridge to face the foe she had been destined to kill. _Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes. _Emalia sung in her mind.

**Please review, like and follow! I'll be back with another update really soon!**


	16. The Music of Alduin's Doom

**I had to do SO MUCH research for this chapter! I think it was worth it though :3 I loved writing this chapter though... It's a real pity that you can never see Sovngarde ever again though... Ah, nevermind. Let's start the chapter! I really hope you like it! I spent a long time trying to make this part as epic as possible :P **

"We cannot fight this mist!" Felldir yelled.

Gormlaith stepped forward, smiling. "Clear the mist! Combine our shouts!"

With that, all of the heroes, including Emalia, took in a breath and released a powerful shout. "_Lok... Vah Koor!"_

Their Voices ripped through the mist like lightening through thunderclouds. Soon, the mist dispersed. Then Alduin swooped down from what seemed like nowhere and combated their Voices. _"Ven... Mu Riik!"_

As quick as it disappeared, the mist swirled from the ground and concealed the vale once again. "Again!" Gormlaith yelled.

"We can shatter his power if we Shout together!" Felldir added.

_"Lok... Vah Koor!"_

Alduin let out a growl of annoyance as his soul-snare dispersed once again. He once again unleashed his terrible shout, making the mist even thicker than before this time. "Does his strength have no end? Is our struggle in vain?" Hakon asked angrily.

"Stand fast!" Gormlaith yelled at Hakon. "His strength is failing! Once more and his might _will _be broken!"

Felldir nodded. "His power crumbles – do not pause for a breath!"

"_Lok... VAH KOOR!"_

Emalia and the other heroes shouted with all their might, their voices echoed around them and nothing happened for one agonizing moment. Then the mist sank into the ground, not a wisp remained. She smiled victoriously and bravely shouted out some insults to Alduin, wherever he was... "Alduin, you cowardly worm! Show your scaly hide!"  
A ground shaking roar deafened Emalia for a moment. She looked up fearfully and saw the great dragon swooping down, not landing though, he knew it was madness to do so. "_Zu'u Alduin! Zok sahrot do naan ko Lein!" I am Alduin! Most mighty of any in the World. "Pahlok joorre! Hin kah fen kos bonaar." Arrogant mortals! Your pride will be humbled._

Emalia swallowed down her fear. This is it. The final battle. She tightened her grip on her bow before taking out one of her arrows. Emalia had always feared death, but now it felt like her fear was magnified by a thousand. Her heartbeat quickened and thumped in her ears as she gazed into Alduin's blazing orange eyes. Emalia felt a strange tingling feeling go through her legs, her arms started to shake ever so slightly and her lips quivered as if she were about to start wailing in fear. _"Nust wo ni qiilaan fen kos duaan."_ _Those who do not bow will be devoured._

Alduin opened his jaws and let out a gout of flames. Emalia though she was going to be burnt alive, if were not for Hakon, she would have been. The one eyed warrior shoved Emalia out of the way, he barely managed to leap out of the way to dodge the hot flames. "Focus, Dragonborn! Do not let your fear of Alduin get in your way!"

Hakon helped Emalia up from the ground and put a hand on her shoulder. "Think of something that makes you stronger."

He turned and joined the other heroes once more. Emalia pondered on what Hakon had said and someone came to mind. "Vilkas..." Emalia whispered.

Warmth and courage coursed through her veins as she thought of the one she loved. His luminous silver eyes, his silky dark hair, his voice, his deep laughter, his smile... The thought of seeing Vilkas once again filled her limbs with strength and her mind with the courage she needed. Emalia waited for Alduin to hover about her, in preparation to breath fire over her, and let out her fearsome voice. "_Joor... Zah Frul!"_

Alduin's wings faltered and he wobbled in the air before ungracefully tumbling to to ground. He roared in fury and set his eyes upon Emalia. She wasn't afraid anymore, though, she was ready. Emalia chose the sharpest arrow she had and notched it in her bow. She pulled back the bow string and took in a deep breath, around her, the world slowed. Emalia waited as Alduin opened his mouth, ready to shout, her fingers started to ache when Alduin finally did what she wanted, the arrow head started to smolder from the fire enchantment on the bow. She smiled and released her arrow with a satisfying _twang_. The arrow head embedded itself into the soft flesh of Alduin's throat. The pinkish flesh turned red, then black, as the fire enchantment burned away at it. Alduin shrieked and flapped his wings desperately, trying in vain to get back in the air. Emalia fetched another arrow out of her quiver and sent it through one of Alduin's eyes. "I thought something was missing!" She taunted.

Alduin growled and finally managed to leap into the air again, but it wasn't long before Gormlaith took Alduin back to the ground. The dragon snarled and crawled over to Gormlaith, prepared to do what he did to her when she lived. When Alduin's massive head came crashing down, Felldir came and intercepted Alduin's jaws. He sent his greatsword deep into Alduin's scaly cheek. The dragon recoiled, a spray of black blood spurted from the ruined scales and marred flesh. Gormlaith sighed in relief and gave her fellow hero a nod of thanks. Alduin backed away and turned to another target. Emalia once again, for Alduin probably believed that she was the biggest threat. She merely smiled and drew out the Skyforge Steel sword from it's sheathe at her side. What she did next was the craziest and the wildest thing she had ever done before. She sprinted over to Alduin and leaped atop his head and clung onto the long horns protruding from his head. Alduin thrashed wildly, desperately trying to throw Emalia off from his head. Emalia gnashed her teeth in desperation. She held her sword high and thrust the sword through Alduin's snout, locking his jaws together. How Emalia managed to force the sword through the dragon's skull, she didn't know. All that mattered was that she managed injure the dragon. She pulled her sword back and thrust it back through again. Emalia ruthlessly stabbed her sword through Alduin's snout until the dragons blood splattered her face, blotting out her vision. Emalia knew she had no choice but to release the Alduin's horn. Alduin thrashed his head around wildly, throwing Emalia off violently. She was thrust off Alduin's head and she landed awkwardly on her arm. She heard something in her arm snap, sharp pain shot through her arm soon after. Emalia looked fearfully at her arm and cringed as she saw the strange angle it was bent in. With her other arm, she tried to right herself. She heard a _clink_ like something falling to the ground. She looked up to see a health potion by her face and Felldir's boots. "A very brave, yet reckless, act... Drink this potion and you should be fine."

Emalia nodded in thanks and twisted the cork of the potion off the bottle, she down the contents of the bottle and let out a sigh of content as her arm mended. Felldir offered his hand and Emalia gladly accepted his help to rise. Felldir righted her and patted her on the now mended shoulder. "Alduin is nearly defeated, just push through."

Emalia smiled at his encouragement. "We will defeat him, we just need to take him down once more!"

She looked up at the sky and let out her Voice once again. "_Joor... Zah Frul!"_

Alduin crashed to the ground once again. Emalia quickly scraped the dried up blood off her face before charging to Alduin once again. She drew her sword again and decided to do something similar to what she did before, but not as wild. Emalia waited for a moment before she leaped up Alduin's wings, for the skin stretched over the bones where a lot thicker and was much stronger than a regular dragons, and jumped in between his wings. She raised her sword and sent it through Alduin's scales, embedding it up to the hilt. She tugged on the sword, desperately trying to pull it out, but it was lodged into Alduin and she had no choice but to leave it in. Emalia pulled out her bow and three arrow, notching them all in the bow. She pulled back the bowstring as far as it could possibly go and aimed for the back of Alduin's head, where his neck started to stretch to his body. "_Dir bruniik sivaas!" Die savage beast!_

She released the arrows, the bowstring whipped forward and slashed at her skin with much force, leaving an aching red mark upon her arm. All of her arrows struck home and sank very deep into Alduin's flesh. Alduin let out a shrill screech and thrashed wildly. Emalia leaped off his back and rolled out of the way of Alduin's flying claws and teeth. He turned to Alduin and set his murderous glare upon her. "Hey Alduin!" Emalia yelled. "I've got three words to say!"

Alduin responded with a growl and started to crawl towards her. Emalia shook her head, laughing, she looked up and said what she had to say. "Oh, I'm so glad that I could use my favourite Shout!"

Alduin froze, realizing what was going to happen, but he couldn't escape. "_Yol... TOOR SHUL!"_

Alduin was consumed by a maelstrom of blazing flames, burning away at his scales and flesh. Alduin screeched and writhed in agony as the flames ate his body. Finally, he managed to take flight, but not for long. The membranes of his wings had been burnt away and he plummeted to the ground. Alduin arched his neck and roared in fury in dragon language. "_Zu'u unslaad! Zu'u nis oblaan!"_ _I am immortal! I cannot die!_

Alduin let loose a terrible roar, causing a meteor storm to form above, much like he did in Helgen. Emalia dodged all of the boulders crashing down from the sky, she knew how badly she could be injured by even a small meteor. Alduin stretched out his wings and threw his head back. His flesh crumbled off his body, only leaving black bones. Then with a brilliant flash of light, there was a blast. Emalia was thrown in the air, she, luckily, crashed into a clump of soft grass. She rubbed her eyes and looked to where Alduin was, but nothing was there... No traces. Nothing. No soul to absorb. Just nothing. She sat up and looked for her fellow heroes, who were nowhere to be seen. Emalia stood up and searched desperately for the heroes. "Gormlaith? Hakon? Felldir?" She called.

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw the hilt of... Was that her Skyforge Steel sword? "I saw that you dropped this."

Emalia turned, she was about to just thank the soul and turn back around when she realized who it was. "Thank you... Wait, Kodlak?"

The old Harbinger smiled warmly. "I saw your battle from afar, you are one very brave woman. Worthy of the Companions! I always knew that you had a fire in you!"

Emalia grinned and took her sword from Kodlak's hands. "Thank you Kodlak, I thank you so much for letting me join the Companions. I learnt so much and... I felt like I had a family! Once again, I thank you for letting me join the Companions. I don't I would have been able to defeat Alduin, and besides," Emalia held the sword in her hands a little higher, "I would have never killed him without this. You know what? I think I might call this sword '_Aldwiin'_!"

Kodlak laughed heartily. "Why call it such a strange name?"

"In dragon language, that means Destroyer's Steel or something like that, I just put the two words together and got that name right on the spot... It's just a coincidence that it sounds similar to 'Alduin'."

She smiled and sheathed her sword. "I should be going, I'm glad you're safe Kodlak. I was so afraid that Alduin may have devoured your soul..."

Kodlak nodded. "Who would have known an ancient god banished from time itself would be devouring souls in Sovngarde."

_Me... _Emalia thought bitterly to herself.

"Ah, but the danger has passed. It matters no more. Wait, Emalia!"

She turned to face the soul of the old Harbinger. "Yes?"

Kodlak lowered the tone of his voice and stepped closer to Emalia. "What of the beast blood?"

Emalia merely laughed. "Don't worry Kodlak, it's all gone. I purified myself, Vilkas and Farkas. But Aela wished to stay as a werewolf. Let me tell you, old man, when I threw that head in the fire, I didn't regret it one bit. I feel free and alive. Don't trouble yourself with this matter anymore, centuries of wrongdoing have been undone. Perhaps one day I may join you in your battle to reclaim the souls of the Companions from the Eternal Hunting Grounds, eh?"

Kodlak chuckled. "One day, Emalia, one day. You will be a good warrior to have by my side, strong, spirited, filled with fire, quick with their wits, calm, agile and caring. I wish all warriors were such wonderful people like you. You are more than worthy to be the Harbinger of the Companions, Emalia, never doubt yourself, for you are much more than you think you are."

Emalia blushed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Thank you Kodlak."

Kodlak put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Say hello to everyone for me, and tell Vilkas and Farkas that I will find a way to bring Jergen, the man they viewed as a father, to the Hall of Valor."

Emalia nodded. "I will," Emalia quickly dashed away the unshed tears that rimmed her eyes, "Kodlak, will... Will this be the last time I see you? Ever?"

Kodlak nodded slowly. "I am afraid it will be... Unless you join me in my battle which I plan, but other than that... I have a feeling this will be our last meeting."

Emalia bit her lips together, trying to stop them from quivering, but her tears were already trickling down her face. She wrapped her arms tightly around Kodlak, like she would to her father when she was younger, and started to cry. "Kodlak, you are an amazing person. The people of Whiterun still lament your passing... The other Companions told me of all of your feats, how caring you were, I don't want this to be our last meeting."

Kodlak patted her comfortingly on the back before prying Emalia's arms off him. "Lead the Companions well, bring us glory."

Emalia sniffed and nodded before quickly wiping the tears from her face and eyes. "I should get going. Thank you, once again Kodlak, for everything you've provided me with. Wisdom, strength and courage. But I need to return to the world of the living. Good bye Kodlak..." _Good bye forever..._

Kodlak held a hand over his heart and nodded. "Farewell Emalia, Talos guide you through your darkest hours."

"Farewell Kodlak!"

Emalia turned to face the Hall of Valor, deciding that the Hall was where the other heroes were. Sprinting there, it only took a matter of seconds before she got to the beginning of the Whalebone Bridge. Tsun stood where he was before, but unlike before, there was a smile upon his lips. Gathered around him were other spirits of Heroes and people who had died in the recent months. Soon, Tsun started to speak, with his poetic words. "That was a mighty deed! The doom of Alduin encompassed at last, and cleansed is Sovngarde of his evil snare. They will sing of this battle in Shor's Hall forever! But your fate lies elsewhere. When you have completed your count of days, I may welcome you again, with glad friendship, and bid you join the blessed feasting."

The heroes took out their weapons and held them up high, chanting: "All hail the Dragonborn! Hail her with great praise!"

A strange feeling flowed through Emalia's body. It was like pride mixed with a little bit of nervousness and a lot of joy. None had ever praised in such a way, or treated her like a savior of the land, which she now was. After a few more chants, Tsun stepped forward, the smile he wore before was gone and replaced with an expression of seriousness. "This is the land of the dead, and you are living. Return now to Nirn, with this rich boon from Shor, my lord: A Shout to bring a hero from Sovngarde in your hour of need."

Three words echoed in Emalia's mind, "_Hun... Kaal... Zoor..."_

With that, Tsun unleashed his voice, "_Naal... Daal Vus!"_

Everything blanked out to white. Emalia could hear anything, see anything or feel anything. It was just nothingness... But she knew one thing for certain, she had left Sovngarde.

**There we go! Alduin has been vanquished! But is that the last of Emalia's enemies! Nah, just kidding! She's done with being the Dragonborn... For now... :D Please review, like and follow! I'm nearly finished editing the next chapter, so that should be posted soon! Until next time! One last thing, ****_Aldwiin _****really does mean Destroyer('s) Steel. I researched, I just found it really funny how it sounded like 'Alduin' so I decided to add that in!**


	17. The Dragonborn Returns!

**Let's get straight into this, I go no ramblings today.**

Colour, sounds, feelings and tastes poured back into the world after some agonizing moments of swimming in nothingness. Cold air burned Emalia's lungs, and the lack of it too, snow stung her face and wind whistled in her ears. She knew quite quickly she was at the Throat of the World, atop the highest peak, where Paarthurnax resided. Emalia then heard the grieving roars of many dragons gathered on the peak and flying around it. Emalia looked around at all the dragons, fearing that one would come and attempt to kill her because she had been the one who killed Alduin. "So it is done." Emalia turned to see Paarthurnax, on his usual perch atop the word wall which never had any carvings or anything, it was all too worn away by the winds. "Alduin _dilon_. The Eldest is no more, he who came before all others, and has always been."

Emalia noted that there was a slight tinge of sadness in the ancient dragon's voice. "You don't sound very happy about it..."

Paarthurnax nodded slowly. "Happy? No, I am not happy. _Zeymahi lost ont du'ol Barmahu... _My brother was once the son of my father... Alduin was once the crown of our father Akatosh's creation. You did what was necessary. Alduin had flown far from the path of right action in his _pahlok – _the arrogance of his power. But I cannot celebrate his fall. He was my brother once. This world will never be the same."

Emalia nodded understandably, it must be hard to have a brother die, no matter what they did. "I was just fulfilling my destiny as Dragonborn."

Paarthurnax sighed. "Indeed, you saw that more clearly than I – certainly more clearly than Alduin."

The old dragon looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "_Rok funta koraav. _He failed to see. Perhaps now you have some insight into the forces that shape the Vennesetiid_, _the Currents of Time. You have won a mighty victory, one that will echo through all ages of this world for those who have eyes to see. Savor your triumph, Dovahkiin, this is not the last of what you will write upon the currents of time."

With that, Paarthurnax took to the air. He roared loudly, flying around the peak of the throat of the world. The other dragons followed his lead and flew to wherever he led them to. Soon Emalia was alone, with one other dragon. A large red one, Odahviing. "You have proven yourself twice over _Thuri, _my Overlord, Dovahkiin. I gladly acknowledge the power of your Thu'um. Call me when you are in need, and I will come if I can."

Soon, Odahviing left. Emalia was alone on the peak of the mountain. She stood up and sighed. "What now?" Emalia asked herself silently.

She smiled and knew exactly what she was going to do. "Before I return to Jorrvaskr, there is just one thing I want to do..."

* * *

With his greatsword, Vilkas hacked at the straw dummy which stood outside in the training grounds. _She'll be back soon. She'll be back soon. _He thought to himself every time the blade slashed at the dummy. Nearly three weeks had passed since the time Emalia was supposed to be back. That was four weeks ago, meaning five weeks since Emalia left. It was driving Vilkas insane. Waiting... Waiting... Waiting... Farkas told him not to worry, she's strong, but Vilkas couldn't help but think of the worst. _What if she's dead? What if she's trapped? What if the dragon betrayed her?_

The thoughts flew in Vilkas's mind every single day. "You still out here?"

Vilkas turned around to see Aela leaning against one of the wooden beams that supported the roof of the shaded area of the training grounds. "Is there a reason to be inside? There are no new jobs, so I suppose the only place I should be is training."

Aela nodded slowly. "Fair enough."

The Huntress walked from her post over to Vilkas. "You worry too much, Emalia's fine! She'll be back sometime soon, mark my words."

Vilkas flashed her one of his iconic glares, the 'you-don't-know-anything-so-shut-up' glare. Aela just laughed and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Don't be like that! You've been so moody every since..." With the murderous glare Vilkas was giving her, Aela knew she needed to shut up. "Never mind..."

Vilkas gave her one more dark look and continued hacking at the dummy which he nearly reduced to nothing. Aela, knowing she wouldn't get any good out of her conversation with Vilkas, turned to practice her archery. Though she soon got bored and started to mutter about still targets before heading off hunting. But then, just when the sky was darkening, a cheer from somewhere in Whiterun went up. "The Dragonborn has returned! She has returned victorious!"

Vilkas hastily threw his sword down and sprinted to the entrance to the Plains District. There she was, being carried by the crowd, crowned with a ring of blue wildflowers and laughing. "Put me down! Put me down!" She giggled.

The crowd ignored her and threw her into the air, and again, and again, chanting, "All hail the Dragonborn! All hail the Dragonborn!"

Emalia squealed every time she was thrown into the air, and fell back into the hands of the many people gathered. For the first time in weeks, Vilkas smiled. Then he noticed, after a few more times the crowd threw her into the air, that she wore a familiar necklace. It must have been tucked into her armor before, but from being thrown in the crowd, it managed to release itself. Soon, Emalia stopped staring at the sky and looked around Whiterun, it wasn't long before she laid her eyes on Vilkas. "Shield Brother!" She squealed.

Vilkas waved to her, and she waved back energetically. Finally, the crowd let her feet touch the ground again and she dashed over to Vilkas, embracing him tightly. Vilkas laughed and swept Emalia off her feet. He spun her around and brought her close. Emalia's peals of tinkling laughing was like music in his ears. Vilkas soon let Emalia down, as her feet hadn't come in contact with the ground much for the past half hour or so. Emalia swiftly wrapped her arms around Vilkas's neck and brought herself close to him. Vilkas gazed into Emalia's dark amber eyes, and she gazed into his luminous silver eyes. Vilkas gently brushed away a strand of Emalia's hair from her eyes, "Better." He whispered.

Emalia giggled and flashed him a dazzling smile before leaning close to kiss Vilkas. It was a sensation that Vilkas had hungered for ever since Emalia left on the dragons, he wished it would go on for longer... But there was the fact that there were people standing around, a lot of people. Vilkas looked down at the necklace he'd spotted before and held it closer, examining the markings and design of it. "What's this?"

Emalia suddenly blushed fiercely. "It's an amulet... An Amulet of Mara."

Looks like someone beat him to it then. An Amulet of Mara was worn by a person seeking marriage, they could be purchased from Riften at the Temple of Mara. That was why Emalia was gone for so long... "An Amulet of Mara, eh? I'm surprised someone like you doesn't have a whole crowd of men seeking your favor!"

Emalia raised an eyebrow. "You want me to have a whole crowd of men trailing after me?" She asked jokingly.

Vilkas shook his head, smiling. "Not at all..."

Emalia's eyes brightened. "Interested in me, are you?" She asked, despite knowing the answer very well.

"You are seriously asking me that question? Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I've loved you Emalia. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met, and you can actually fend for yourself in a fight!"

Emalia laughed again, "Does that mean..."

"Yes, Emalia, it would fill my heart in joy to marry you. "

Her grin would have brightened even the darkest of nights, Vilkas had never seen Emalia so happy before, even though she was usually very cheerful all the time. She was about to kiss Vilkas once again, but _someone's _brother just had to jump in! "Hey, brother! I would have never imagined that you would be married first!" Farkas shouted jokingly, walking up to them.

Vilkas laughed and shoved his brother away. "Shut up, ice brain."

Farkas merely laughed and threw his arms around their shoulders. "I say we celebrate Emalia's victory, and your engagement, back at Jorrvaskr!"

Emalia looked up at Farkas, and back at Vilkas. "I say that's a mighty fine idea!"

**Please review, like and whatnot :3 **


	18. A Toast to the Dragonborn

**Enjoy :)**

"To the Dragonborn!" Vilkas shouted, raising his tankard high.

Emalia blushed fiercely as the other Companions, and some of Whiterun's population, cheered her. After the toast, the celebration became a lot more festive. Everywhere she looked, Emalia could see people drinking and smiling. Even the bard, Mikael, had taken out his lute and started to play merry songs of glory. It was quite humorous to watch as the bard attempted to woo women, but especially Aela for some reason. Emalia couldn't help but chuckle as Aela would always try to disappear into the crowd whenever the bard laid his eyes on her. After a while, Mikael gave up and started to seek other women who actually wanted his attention. Taking the chance, Emalia snatched his lute and walked over to where the bard once stood. She strummed the fine strings and smiled at the beautiful sound, Emalia placed her fingers along the fretted fingerboard and started strumming a song which she had heard, and learnt, some time ago at the Bards College. Soon, the words to the song came back to her and she started to sing softly.

_"Alduin's wings_

_They did darken the sky_

_His roar furies fire_

_And his scales sharpen scythes_

_Men ran and they cowered_

_And they fought and they died_

_They burned and they bled_

_As they issued their cries_

_We need saviors to free us  
From Alduin's rage  
Heroes on the field _

_Of this new war to wage_

_And if Alduin wins  
Man is gone from this world  
Lost in the shadow  
Of the black wings unfurled_

But then came the Tongues  
On that terrible day  
Stead fast as winter  
As they entered the fray  
And all heard the music  
Of Alduin's doom  
That sweet song of Skyrim  
Sky shattering Thu'um

_And so the Tongues freed us  
From Alduin's rage_

_Gave the gift of the voice_

_Ushered in a new age_

_And if Alduin's eternal_

_Then eternity's done_

_For his story is over_

_And the dragons... Are gone"_

Emalia smiled as she ended the song, she heard someone clapping some where around her. "That was better than Mikael!" Someone shouted.

"Another song!" Aela shouted from somewhere the in the crowd.

Emalia smiled and thought of songs she had learnt about in books and ones she learnt about in the Bards College. She thought back to the time she found that ancient book in a dungeon long time ago, one day she had enough time to read the book and memorized the lyrics of the song written within. It was actually easy to remember, because of the fact it was in dragon language. Emalia plucked the strings in the rhythm she had sang the song in before some time ago.

_"Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin  
naal ok zin los vahriin  
wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!  
Ahrk fin norok paal graan  
Fod nust hon zindro zaan  
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!"_

Knowing that no one knew what she had sang, Emalia slipped into the common tongue and repeated the same song, but in a language all would understand.

_"Dragonborn, Dragonborn  
By her honour is sworn  
To keep evil forever at bay!_

_And the fiercest of foes _

_Rout when they hear triumph's shout_

_Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!"_

Just as Emalia finished the last words of the verse, Mikael pushed through the crowd and snatched his lute back. Emalia couldn't suppress her giggles when she saw red finger marks across his cheek, it was probably Aela trying to send him a clear message that she was _not_ interested. "I'm the bard here." He said, his voice full of envy.

"Hey! I'm a bard too!" Emalia huffed indignantly.

She stuck her tongue out teasingly before walking away. At least she had a little bit of fun before Mikael came back to claim his instrument. Emalia felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned to see Ria, all smiles. "Hey, the other Circle members were looking for you! Oh, by the way, I always knew you'd fallen for Vilkas!"

They both laughed before Ria pushed through the crowd and led Emalia to the others. Around one end of the table was a big crowd, and Emalia knew instantly what that meant. Drinking Contest. Emalia pushed through the crowd of people and burst into laughter. Vilkas, Farkas and Aela sat around the end of the table, a tankard filled with mead in front of them. Vilkas looked to Emalia and beckoned her to sit by him. "You want to join?"

"Count me in!" Emalia giggled.

Ria filled up a tankard and put it in front of Emalia. "No backing down." Aela giggled mischievously.

"No spilling!" Farkas added.

"And no regurgitating." Vilkas laughed.

Emalia rolled her eyes and brought the tankard closer, waiting for the starting signal. "Ready?" Aela asked.

They all nodded, Aela slammed her hand down against the table and tilted the contents of the tankard down her throat. Emalia quickly snatched up the tankard and started to drink, not caring too much about the taste of the Nord Mead. She swiftly finished the tankard and had it quickly refilled, then she repeated the process again. Despite her speed, the three Nords were already finishing their mugs of mead much faster! Soon, Emalia noticed Aela was slipping off her chair, leaning off by the looks of it! Emalia soon brought her sixth mug to her lips and realized that she wasn't as drunk as everyone else... Yet... It must have been her Bosmer blood, she found that it usually did ward off things such as being drunk, diseases and poisons. But it wasn't to long before she seemed to be hiccuping and giggling uncontrollably every now and then. After a little while, Farkas slammed his tankard down, muttered something about donkeys and mutant sweet rolls and fell off his chair, out cold. Emalia suddenly sprayed out all of the mead which was in her mouth at the time and started laughing. Aela then stood up, rather unsteadily, and claimed that she could drink no more. Emalia turned to face Vilkas, who had a childish grin plastered upon his face. "May the besht win!" He shouted, his words rather slurred.

"Your on!" Emalia chuckled.

With their tankards filled again, the contest was as fierce as ever. Emalia could hear Ria screaming at her to keep going at the top of her lungs, Aela was unsteadily cheering for no one in particular and Farkas was still on the floor, drool oozing from the corner of his mouth. Vilkas jerked his head back and poured the contents of the tankard into his mouth. Emalia flashed a sly to Vilkas, sipping slowly at the mead, she knew deep down that she was going to win. She could already see the alcohol in his eyes, whilst she felt only the slightest bit dizzy and giggly. _One more mug and I'll win! One more mug and I'll win! _I repeated in my mind.

Vilkas slammed his now empty mug on the table and asked Ria, in a very slurred way, to re fill his mug. He looked over to Emalia with a lopsided grin. "Thish is grape! Never felt sho happy!" Then their mugs were placed in front of them, Vilkas narrowed his eyes. "Thish one'll probably determine da winner."

Emalia raised her mug with a smirk and quickly gulped down the contents. It wasn't too long after when Vilkas finished his mug and shouted, "I'mmm definitely gonna..." Then his crossed and he was out cold. "Nope! *hic* You didn't win!" Emalia cheered victoriously.

She smiled happily as everyone cheered for her once more, but despite how good she felt... Emalia desperately needed to piss... She thought of the problem ahead of her, she was probably gonna have to find a way to wake the two completely drunk twins or drag them back to their rooms. With a groan she stood up and walked over to Vilkas. "Hey! Vilkas, wake *hic* up!"

Emalia tried to swallow down the hiccups, but they just kept coming. After a little while, Emalia gave up on waking the two up and tried to drag Vilkas, but failed. "Looks like you need a little help there, don'tcha?" Asked a smooth, yet rough voice.

It sounded like what a cat would sound like if one could speak... And how right she was, Emalia looked up to see a Khajiit wearing jet black armor. The cat had a sly smile upon it's furry face, Emalia could see that this Khajiit was female and probably quite snarky and sarcastic... The Khajiit's fur was a light brown with nearly jet black streaks lining the fur, similar pattern to a tabby cat, her eyes were a beautiful golden colour. "You definitely need some help..." The cat snickered.

Emalia rolled her eyes and gestured to the two snoring Companions. "You think?"

The Khajiit laughed, a strange laugh which seemed like a mix between a Bosmer woman's laugh and a cat's purr. "Ah, I'll help you."

Before the Khajiit had the chance to walk over to her, Emalia asked a question. "What's your name? Usually Khajiit speak in third person, saying their name all the time, but you're kind of different..."

The Khajiit flashed an annoyed looked at Emalia. "Do I have to speak like all of the other Khajiit? Why don't you follow Bosmer tradition? I saw you eating plants just a few moments ago!"

Emalia rolled her eyes. "I was just asking!"

The Khajiit let out a little huff. "Fine, anyway! My name is Gwenivere, though you may not have heard of me, many others have... Of my... Well, lets say 'skills'. Oh, don't worry about telling me your name, I know it well. You being the Dragonborn and all!"

Emalia narrowed her eyes. This Khajiit probably dabbled in darker circles. "I see... A rather strange name for a Khajiit, I'd say!"

"Think what you want, but it is truly my name."

The giggles and rather fuzzy vision was fading now, Emalia's Bosmer blood was purging the alcohol from her body, and she now had more control. If the cat were to strike, she'd be ready. "Well, are you going to help me or not, Gwenivere?"

The Khajiit rolled her eyes, or the best variation of rolling her cat eyes and knelt down. That was when Emalia realized that Khajiit have tails. "Which one?" Gwenivere's voice snapped Emalia out of her wonder.

"Hm? Oh! This one, Vilkas, we can get his brother later."

But Gwenivere completely ignored Emalia and went to Farkas instead. "I wanna take the handsome one." The cat purred.

Emalia raised and eyebrow, Gwenivere looked up to her, no lie in her eyes. Emalia giggled a little and shrugged. "Okay, fine. We'll drag Farkas down first."

Gwenivere's cat mouth parted into a toothy smile. They each grabbed one arm and dragged Farkas down to his quarters, and that meant they had to drag him down some stairs. It took forever, because Gwenivere continually whined that they had hit Farkas's head against the stairs or accidentally kicked him. It took so long for them to actually get him down to his quarters. "I'm just leaving him on the floor!" Emalia shouted when they finally got him down there.

Gwenivere stood still for a moment before giving in and slinking back up the stairs with Emalia. Luckily, Vilkas had woken up and saved them from the trouble of dragging him too. "Don't worry! I... I'm awaked!" He stuttered.

Emalia laughed helped Vilkas to his feet. "Good, that saves me and Gwenivere to trouble of dragging you down the stairs as well!"

Gwenivere stood a little further back, smiling. "Is the other guy single?" She joked.

Vilkas and Emalia laughed, soon Vilkas spoke up. "Yes he is."

Gwenivere's smile widened. "Can I please join the Companions?"

Emalia laughed and smiled. "As long as you can prove your worth to my drunk buddy over here tomorrow, or the day after, then perhaps. And there's also the fact that you don't steal anything."

Suddenly, Gwenivere seemed to have an expression of guilt. "Um..."

Emalia laughed and held out her hand. "What did you steal?"

Gwenivere held out a coin pouch. "I took it from downstairs..." She muttered guiltily.

Laughing, Emalia gently took back the coin pouch and held onto it tightly. "Any other things you need to say?"

Gwenivere shook her head, Emalia could tell she wasn't lying. "Okay then... I hope you don't steal anymore, and enjoy the celebration!"

The celebration continued, but Emalia didn't dare touch any mead or any form of drink.

**Gwenivere is my friend's characer, she begged me to put her character in here! One last note, my friend married Farkas upon realizing that I'd married Vilkas in the game :3 She loves him so much and got VERY freaked out when I told her about a headless Farkas glitch XD Anyways, please review, like, follow and I'll get back to ya soon! **


	19. Before Marriage, Comes History Lessons

**SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T POSTED A NEW CHAPTER LATELY! School and other story sites have been chasing me and biting me, so I barely had time to type up this chapter, but here we go! I didn't really have a clue on what to do with this chapter, so I decided to get some things straight with Emalia's character. I only recently discovered that she didn't follow Bosmer traditions, so here's my filler chapter for you! By the way, I just wanted to thank ALL of you you viewers and reviewers and followers and um... favourite-ers(?) for all of your support! I wanted to do this thank you for the last chapter, but I just couldn't hold back this 'thank you'! Anyways, on with the story!**

Tomorrow, Emalia would be married... Tomorrow... She found herself needing some time by her self, for some reason, so she'd retreated to the roof of Jorrvaskr. Emalia had brought her old flute with her and played light tunes to ease her mind from the strange feeling that was taking over her. Only a month and a few weeks ago she'd first seen the Companion with luminous silver eyes... And now, she was going to marry him... Vilkas was the one she loved, so why did she feel this way? Emalia sighed and slumped again one of the decorations on the roof shaped like a serpentine dragon. She closed her eyes and brought the flute to her lips, she blew gently and let the wind carry away the soft notes. "You've got a knack for musical things don't you?"

One of Emalia's eyes snapped open. She didn't see anyone, but when she looked straight up, perched atop the tall dragon decoration was Gwenivere. "This would be a good hiding spot if you were blowing into that flute."

Emalia stood up and looked up at Gwenivere. In the short amount of time they'd known each other, the two had become tight friends. It was a strange mix though... A warrior friends with a thief... Emalia was never bothered by it though. Despite being a thief, the Khajiit was very capable of defending herself. Emalia found it hilarious when Gwenivere finally got Farkas wrapped around her fingers. He'd follow her almost everywhere! Emalia often joked with Gwenivere, saying that it was odd for a wolf to fall in love with a cat. She didn't get it, and Emalia never explained what it meant. The past was gone. There was no need to revisit it. "Are you implying that I'm no good at playing this flute?"

Gwenivere laughed and shook her head. "No, not at all! It's actually quite nice and... Calming, which I guess is why you like playing it!"

Emalia nodded slowly, she fiddled with the flute holes for a little while when Gwenivere spoke up. "Why are you up here anyways?"

Emalia sighed and put the flute down, but kept a firm hand on it just in case it rolled off. "I'm a little nervous... I know it sounds completely ridiculous, but I am..."

Gwenivere smiled. "You love him and he loves you, nothing to be worried about!"

Emalia laughed a little, it was strange but... What Gwenivere said calmed her a little. "I guess you are right, I shouldn't really be nervous..."

"By what I'm told, marriage is the happiest thing in anyone's life!" Gwenivere exclaimed.

Emalia smiled. "Yeah, I guess..."

Gwenivere looked out to Whiterun and smiled. "Well, I got a job to do! I'll see you later!"

She waved and leaped off her perch on the roof, "Can Khajiit land on their feet?" Emalia muttered to herself.

She pulled her knees close to her chest and sighed. At least she had her alone time again... Or so she thought. Emalia soon heard a voice calling her name, she'd recognize that accent anywhere! She peaked over one of the ridges on the roof and saw Vilkas walking up the steps to Jorrvaskr, looking side to side, seeking Emalia. It was only when Vilkas was almost right below the spot she was when she realized one thing. If Gwenivere had left, she would have walked by Vilkas as he came back to Jorrvaskr. It was too late when she realized what Gwenivere had planned. Someone shoved Emalia from behind, sending her tumbling off the roof. Emalia let out a short scream as she fell, her landing wasn't a pleasant one. The plating of her glass armor dug into her back as she landed. "Damn cat!" She hissed.

"There you are!"

Emalia barely had time to mutter a greeting when Vilkas scooped her up. "Are we doing this again?" He asked jokingly.

This time, Emalia didn't struggle. "Nope, because last time I denied my love for you!" She giggled.

Vilkas laughed and looked up at the roof. "Did you fall or something?"

"No... I was pushed. By the cat."

Vilkas hesitated for a moment, then let out a bout of laughter. "Emalia! There's nobody there! Are you implying that you were pushed by a common house cat? That would be surprising if there was a cat up there though..."

Emalia huffed. "No! It was a Khajiit! It was Gwenivere!"

"Whatever you say, falling from there is dangerous. When I was younger, Farkas and I decided it would be a great idea to go up there. I ended up falling and breaking my leg."

Emalia winced, that sounded really painful... "Oh... By Auri-El, I'm not going back up there!"

Vilkas raised an eyebrow. "Auri-El? Who's that? A Bosmeri divine deity? I haven't heard of the tradition in Valenwood..."

Emalia sighed, Vilkas had an interest for so many things... History, alchemy, plants, Divines, Daedra, it was hard to believe that he was a warrior sometimes! "Put me down, take me back to Jorrvaskr, and I might give you a lesson about Bosmer culture."

Vilkas smiled. "Sorry, if you want me to put you down, I require a higher price.."

Emalia let out a sigh. "Okay then, would a kiss do? But that means you also have to teach me about the history of the Companions"

Vilkas hesitated. He'd get to have the chance to learn about a subject that he was interested in, talk about a subject he was interested in and get a kiss. With a laugh, Vilkas nodded. "Okay, I agree to your terms."

He stood still, waiting expectantly. Emalia crossed her arms. "You get the kiss after you let me down."

"But then how will I get you back to Jorrvaskr?"

She let out a soft growl. "You're really annoying sometimes... Did you know that?"

"Very _very _well." Vilkas said with a sly smile.

* * *

"Okay, I'm not sure how _exactly _to describe the divine deities of the Bosmer, so how 'bout a song?"

Vilkas leaned back on his chair. "Go on then..."

Emalia searched in her memory for the song that she sang as a child with her friends when they used to play those silly games where you would pretend to be someone from a different plane of existence, namely the divines, and whenever you sang the song, the one who wanted to be the divine stepped forward when the verse describing the divine was sung. It didn't matter if you were a girl and you chose a male divine, you could adapt their stories to your liking and even change their personalities, but the name would always be the same. Emalia smiled at fond memories of fighting with one of her friends to be the god of song and the forest, Jephre. She took in a breath and started to sing:

"_Y'ffre, the now, the forest, the holy divine_

_He who led the tree dwelling kind_

_The storyteller, he was_

_He does what he does_

_Set the laws of the forest_

_Don't take the plants or steal from the nest_

_Or you'll have Y'ffre seeking for your head!_

_Auri-El, the king, the light, the holy divine_

_He who led the Altmeri kind_

_The vanquisher of the Tyrant_

_Don't insult him, for you just can't_

_Descended from him, we claim_

_For the creations of worlds he is famed!_

_Z'en, the worker, the payment, the holy divine_

_He who led the sailors of all kind_

_Linked to the Aedra_

_At least not the Daedra _

_The one who worked on and on_

_But now all of his worship is gone_

_Jephre, the song, all nature, the holy divine_

_He who led the Bosmeri kind_

_His places of worship hidden deep in the trees_

_We must find his blessing amidst the leaves_

_The singer of songs, that he is_

_Those with his talent may have received his gift"_

Emalia thought for a long time if there were any other Bosmer divines that she had forgotten, but couldn't think of any other. "That's as much as I can remember... There's another eight verses to the song, as far as I can remember..."

Vilkas laughed. "They sound like very interesting divines... Auri-El seems very similar to Akatosh though, being the king of the divines... Seems like Shor too... Ah, but we could go on and on about that sort of stuff! You mentioned in the song that Y'ffre set the 'laws of the forest'. What are those?"

Emalia cringed. "They're really strange ways..."

Vilkas leaned forward, his interest piqued. "I'm listening..."

"Well, Y'ffre made this law that you couldn't eat plants. Meaning that you couldn't pick plants or grow crops otherwise Y'ffre would get angry. But I believe that it's just a story, I eat plants all the time!"

Vilkas nodded. "That is true, I've hardly seen any one else consume plants as much as you do."

Emalia rolled her eyes. "Shut up... I'm not done. Y'ffre said that we could eat anything that we hunted. And by anything, I really do mean anything, and we had to eat it in three days or else it would be deemed disrespectful. But the family could join in with the feast."

Vilkas's eyes widened in horror. "Wait, by anything you also mean... Other... People?"

Emalia nodded, her expression very serious. "I'm not kidding. My grandparents tried to feed me bandit one time. You can see why I don't follow these rules right?"

"Because you'd probably end up eating dragons..."

That wasn't the answer she wanted, but Emalia nodded anyways. "Yeah... But anyways, as you can see I don't really like those rules."

Vilkas smiled. "I'm glad you don't, they sound downright disturbing!" Then he added, "Oh, by the way, you got a great voice. Jephre had really blessed you."

I smiled then took a seat. "Now where are those Companions history lessons you promised?"

**Don't fear! I shan't bore you with more history! The next chapter is... VILKAS AND EMALIA'S WEDDING! I have been planning the next chapter for so long! I'm so glad we're finally there! Look out for the next chapter update! See ya!**


	20. Matching Rings

**Sorry this chapter is late! But at least it's here :3**

"Never thought that you'd get married first, brother!" Farkas joked.

Vilkas flashed a smile at his twin and shifted on his feet restlessly. He breathed in deeply and found himself calmed by the outdoor air. There were quite a few guests at their wedding, that included the Jarl of Whiterun, his housecarl Irileth, all of the Companions, some other people from other holds which Emalia had done favors for and even some other Jarls, unfortunately there was some tension between the ones that supported the Stormcloaks and ones that supported the Empire. But Vilkas was sure that Emalia would find a way to get them to put their beliefs behind for just one day. Emalia had insisted to have the wedding out in Whiterun plains, she assured everyone that there was no dangers out there. Did she forget about the wolves roaming the area? The giants which wandered the plains? The saber toothed cats that called this place their hunting grounds? Vilkas shook his head. Emalia was hard to understand some times... "This accursed dress..." Aela growled from somewhere behind him.

For the occasion, Aela had reluctantly slipped on a dress and was fidgeting and complaining nonstop. She did look pretty in the dress, but Vilkas knew very well that it wasn't her style. Aela wore a dark blue dress with long sleeves, a sash was tied around her waist and her hair was neatly combed, but she still had her war paint across her face. Aela looked up at Vilkas, her amber eyes blazing with fury. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing, just that it's the first time that I've seen you in a dress."

Aela narrowed her eyes. "Say another smart remark like that and I'll rip your tongue out!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared." Vilkas said sarcastically.

The Huntress growled and walked away. Vilkas smiled and looked to the plains. He could see Gwenivere running towards where the wedding was going to take place, it was very humorous every time the Khajiit tripped and quickly got up as if nothing ever happened. Where was Emalia? She'd left earlier in the morning claiming that she "needed to get her dress and find a 'dramatic entrance'." Vilkas laughed. "I wonder what she's got in mind..."

Soon, everyone took their seats and Vilkas stood at the end of the aisle, the priest of Mara muttered the words he was to repeat so that he didn't stumble. _When will Emalia come? _Vilkas wondered.

As if to answer his question, there came a cry, "Dragon!"

He looked up to see a magnificent, yet frightening, dragon swooping down from the North. It's scales were red and silver with streaks of blue, hadn't he seen this dragon before? Then it came to him, it was that dragon Emalia had called to Dragonsreach to learn of Alduin's location. It was Odahviing, and on his back was none other than Emalia. But she looked very different... "My dragon friend's joining us!" She shouted from her seat on the dragon.

Vilkas smiled. _Very dramatic Emalia, very dramatic._ He thought.

The dragon, Odahviing, landed and Emalia leaped off the dragon. The only word Vilkas could thing of to describe her was 'stunning'. She wore a long dress which was made of what seemed like golden dragon scales which shimmered in the light. From the hem of the dress were swirling silver patterns which twisted into flying dragons and stars in a golden sky. Her hair was braided and laced with delicate flowers, she also wore a beautiful golden circlet which was crafted to seem like a wreath of swirling vines. She'd also put on a little bit of make up for the occasion, for her lips seemed to be a deeper shade of red and the dark eyeliner outlining her eyes made the dark amber stand out. Despite all the nice dresses and make up, the tips of glass boots could be seen peeking out from the hem of her dress. Emalia fiddled with her dress before laying her eyes on Vilkas, she flashed him a bright smile before slowly making her way up the aisle. "Ah, there she is... Let's begin the ceremony!" The priest said, quickly dashing away tears of happiness.

Emalia soon found herself standing next to Vilkas, she interlaced her fingers with his as the priest started the ceremony. Emalia didn't hear what the priest was saying half the time, she was too busy gazing lovingly at her husband to be. Without his war paint, Vilkas looked a lot less intimidating and a lot more friendly, especially with a smile on his face. Other than that, everything else was the same. His hair was a little ruffled as usual, but his eyes shone with happiness. He wore fine clothes made of black cloth with dashes of colour here and their. _He still looks better with armor... He doesn't match _normal_ clothing... _Emalia thought to herself with a smile.

Then she heard the priest say the words that her mother often recounted when talking about _her _wedding. "We gather here today, under Mara's loving gaze to bear witness to the union of two souls!" Emalia squeezed Vilkas's hand lightly, "Through prosperity and poverty, through joy and hardship." The priest looked to Vilkas, "Do you vow to be bound in love, now and forever?"

Vilkas nodded and looked over to Emalia. "I do, now and forever."

Emalia felt some tears in her own eyes as he said those words, then the priest turned to Emalia. "Do you vow to be bound in love, now and forever?"

She nodded and smiled, her vision blurring from tears of joy. "I-I do! Now and forever."

Emalia looked at Vilkas, who returned her smile. "Under the authority of Mara, the Divine of Love, I declare this couple newly wed! May I present the two of you with these matching rings, blessed by Mara's divine grace. May they symbolize the beginning of your new life!"

The priest gave them each a golden band which glowed with a faint blue light, and enchantment of some sort. Emalia tried to blink away her tears of happiness, just in case her make up would start to run. She looked over to Vilkas and gave him a huge smile, he laughed and immediately came close for a kiss. This time, they didn't care who was looking, they were a couple now and no one could ever separate them. Ever. Well, except for Farkas, who came over and gave Vilkas a brotherly shove. "Married now, eh? Hopefully I'll be married too some time soon!" Farkas's gaze was laid on Gwenivere, who was quickly brushing away tears.

Emalia turned to Gwenivere, who gave her a thumbs up and mouthed, "I told you not to worry."

Emalia stuck her tongue out leaned over to the priest. "Hey, when's the next time you can do a wedding?"

The priest raised an eyebrow, but answered anyway. "Um... Next week, but why?"

Emalia disregarded the priest's question and looked over to Gwenivere and mouthed back, "You can have your wedding with Farkas next week."

Gwenivere's eyes shone bright and the Khajiit nodded ever so enthusiastically, it was as if her head would fall off. Emalia laughed and turned around to be greeted by a rain of flower petals. She giggled and brushed some of the petals off her face, arms wrapped around her and lips softly kissed her cheek. "I love you." Vilkas whispered.

Emalia returned his embrace. "I love you too, and I will never let go of you!"

Vilkas laughed. "Well, you'll have to some time soon!" He indicated to her arms wrapped around him.

Emalia merely laughed and kissed him so that he would be quiet.

* * *

The celebrations went well into the night, and everyone was in good spirits. Congratulation Vilkas and Emalia and all of that. There was dancing, singing, drinking and talking going on and no one had yawned or anything yet! Emalia couldn't see how anybody could do that, for her eye lids were starting to feel heavy and her body begged her to lie upon a soft bed. Every time she saw a chair, her body swayed to that direction but someone would swoop in and start dancing with her whilst drunkenly singing. Whilst dancing, she'd forget about her tiredness, but as soon as she stopped swaying to the beat, sleep threatened to take her. But all that went out the window pretty quickly when Vilkas approached her, looking rather nervous. "Emalia... Care to dance?"

With a smile, Emalia nodded and took Vilkas's hand. "Why didn't you ask me earlier?"

Vilkas blushed. "I... Um... Didn't know how to dance properly, Aela had to teach me."

Emalia burst out laughing, through her fits of uncontrollable laughter she managed to get out why she was laughing. "That's the first time that you've not spoken _eloquently_! You're like Farkas sometimes, you know?"

Vilkas chuckled. "Well, at least I'm not as clumsy as him when it comes to dancing."

Emalia squeaked when Vilkas spun her around with surprising skill, she smirked and twirled herself back with a little more force, ending up wrapped in Vilkas's arms. He smiled and leaned close. "I may have just learnt, but I am good. I daresay that I might be better than you."

Vilkas released her from his embrace and put a hand on her hip, his other hand clasped with Emalia's, who immediately recognized what type of dancing Vilkas had just transitioned to. They slow danced together, gazing into each other's eyes. But then, Athis brushed past Emalia. "Show him how real Mer dance." He whispered.

Emalia rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder. "I'm too tired..."

Athis laughed and walked away with Ria. "Did I just hear that you are too tired?"

Emalia looked back to Vilkas. "With you, I'm never tired."

**I've got a few more chapters left to type and then *sniff* Challenges of a Warrior will have ended... But on the bright side, there's gonna be another fanfic following it about Emalia! Yay! Anyways, look forward to a few little bonus chapters in the next few weeks :) (I'll give you a hint about the next chapters, where does Vilkas always talk about going?)**


	21. It May Be Time For a Trip To Morrowind

**Sorry this chapter took a while! I had Writer's Block... But now I'm back on my feet and now I present to you a chapter! :) I hope you enjoy! There's a chance that the next chapter will be the last :( Though I will have some little one-shots and the like :)**

"Where are we going?"

Emalia sighed and looked over to Vilkas. "Just don't question me!"

It was three years after their marriage. Both of them had been riding on horseback for quite some time to get to the city of Windhelm. Emalia had been planning something for a long time, but she'd never told Vilkas exactly what she had in mind. She heard him laugh behind her and mutter something about Elves under his breath, Emalia smiled slyly and pulled on the reins of her horse. "If it comforts you, we're nearly there."

She recognized the path that they were traveling and urged her horse into a steady trot. "The sooner we get there, the better!" She called over her shoulder.

The soft snowfall stung her cheeks and the wind burned her face, leaving her nose and cheeks a light shade of red. Emalia was thankful for the fur coat that she had wrapped around her, though it tickled her neck and chin terribly! The sun was slowly creeping over the horizon, warming everything with the first rays of the sun. Finally, Emalia could spot the tips of the tall towers of the City of Ysgramor. She dismounted her horse and cast some ancient Bosmeri magic upon it. "Now, you know the way home to Whiterun right? Go back there, I won't be back for quite some time."

The horse nickered softly before turning around and galloping back to the direction of Whiterun. Emalia then turned to Vilkas. "Dismount your horse."

He reluctantly got off the horse and watched as it followed it's friend. "What now?" He asked.

Emalia got a blind fold out and held it up. "I need to put this over your eyes, it's gonna be a surprise!"

Vilkas looked at her uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

Emalia laughed and leaned closer, she kissed him softly on the cheek. "I'm very sure. You know that elves are stubborn."

He rolled his eyes and nodded. "Okay then... Blindfold me."

Emalia did so and gently took his hand. "I'll lead the way."

* * *

After getting lost countless times in the large stone city of Windhelm, Emalia finally managed to lead Vilkas to the docks. She walked towards a large, yet open, ship called 'The Northern Maiden'. She led Vilkas onto the boat and walked up to one of the sailors. "Where is Captain Gjalund?" She asked quietly.

The sailor jerked his thumb over to the starboard deck, "He's over there somewhere, what're you doing with 'im?" The sailor was obviously referring to Vilkas.

"_He _is my husband."

Then sailor's eyes brightened, soon remembering why she was there. "Ah! So you are going to-"

"Shush! It's a secret!"

The sailor laughed heartily. "Ah, okay. I'll be quiet then."

Emalia walked over to a tall weathered blond haired Nord. "Captain Gjalund!"

"Ah, Dragonborn! It's good to see you!"

"Can we head off? I have the gold, don't worry!"

The Captain nodded and looked over to Vilkas. "That's him?"

Emalia nodded and held a finger to her lips. Gjalund smiled and gestured to the helm. "I'll get us out to Miehtslos then!" He said, using the code word that he and Emalia had agreed on.

"Where and what is 'Miehtslos'?" Vilkas asked.

Emalia just laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be smart? Figure it out!"

* * *

Emalia sneezed and shook her head, ash was starting to clog up her respiratory system. "Can you get this blind fold off me now? I've had it on for a day at least!"

Emalia elbowed Vilkas. "We're nearly there, once we get to shore I'll tell you where we are."

The Companion grumbled and crossed his arms. "Fine."

Emalia looked to the horizon and smiled. _Here we are... Solstheim... _She whispered in her mind.

Despite being covered in ash, the place was beautiful and an amazing place to be. Emalia had spent the last month or so there solving the area's problems, it had caused Vilkas to throw a fit about her being away for so long. Multiple times, Vilkas had wished that he could go to Morrowind. Solstheim would be a lovely place to be. When they got to shore, Emalia led Vilkas out of the small, yet towering, settlement of Raven Rock. She followed the familiar path that she always took to her favourite place on the island. Past the abandoned farm, across a buried ancient barrow and into the woods to a clearing. Emalia smiled and guided Vilkas to the middle of the clearing. "Don't pull out your sword at what you are about to see." She whispered.

With that, Emalia removed the blindfold, Vilkas's jaw dropped at what he saw. Emalia had taken him to her favourite place on the island, a little clearing which was home to a small family of Netch, strange floating creatures with what seemed like no eyes or mouth. "This... This is amazing..."

Emalia leaned close and smiled. "Welcome to Solstheim, Vilkas."

He turned to her and returned the smile. "You've heard me talking about Morrowind, eh?"

She smirked and nodded slowly, before putting her hands up in defense. "Hey! I listened in to see what I could 'gift' you, because you're always spoiling me with amazing different treasures and all of that!"

Vilkas laughed. "Okay, okay, I hear you. Now, since we are here, what places would you like to show me?"

Emalia's eyes brightened, she'd obviously travelled the land thoroughly before taking Vilkas there. She pointed north, towards the glacial cliffs of Solstheim. "I've heard of an ancient treasure sleeping within a tomb to the north. I've found the key, and I also have an amazing new set of armor which I have at my home in Raven Rock."

Vilkas whistled. "You must be rich! You have so many houses across Skyrim! And you still have enough to afford the most expensive of items in stores!"

Emalia grinned cheekily. "Dragons love gold, that's where most of it comes from. Part of it comes from honest work and... Let's just say that the other part was earn 'unfairly'."

"So you're Dragonborn, the Harbinger of the Companions, Slayer of the Glenmoril Witches, Slayer of Alduin, possibly a thief too... Perhaps more?"

Emalia laughed and nodded. "Add 'Vanquisher of the Dark Brotherhood' to that list too. Oh! And the Thane of all Holds!"

Vilkas let out a low whistle. "I did not know that you did that much during your travels!"

Emalia only laughed. "There's more! I'm also a member of the Dawnguard, the wielder of Auriel's Bow, the Slayer of Vampire Lords and a little bit more."

The only response she got was silence. "Ahaha! I've made you speechless!" She squealed gleefully.

"It's really amusing to see you act like a child you know?" Vilkas mentioned.

Emalia stuck her tongue out before turning around. "Anyway... Are you ready to set out on another adventure, together?"

Vilkas smiled and nodded. "Any time. At last, you've remembered to bring me along. Next time you forget about bringing me to another lovely place like this, you'll be sweeping Jorrvaskr for a week!"

"Since when did you become Harbinger?" Emalia pouted.

Vilkas laughed heartily and held his hands up in defense. "It was just a joke! But, seriously, never let me become worried about you whilst you're out on you dangerous endeavors!"

Emalia lightly punched Vilkas in the shoulder. "Stop it you! I'm worried for your safety, that's why!"

Vilkas just rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay."

Emalia smiled victoriously and brought out a map. "Ready for the most amazing adventure yet?"

Vilkas smiled, the rather intimidating 'I'm-ready-for-anything' smile'. "Lead the way."

Emalia laughed and pointed North. "We're heading that direction, but I want to show you some sights first, is that okay?"

"None will be as amazing as you, but I would love to see some other parts of Solstheim. It seems like an amazing place..."

**Please like, follow and review :3**


	22. Final Words (and a huge thank you!)

**Emalia's last words :3**

There are many challenges a warrior must overcome. It's not always physical, these challenges can test your mental abilities and force you to overcome fears and mental obstacles. Though ever child may dream of being a warrior, but do they have the heart and spirit of one? I am Emalia, Dragonslayer, Harbinger, Companion, Dragonborn. I have changed a lot from when I first set foot into the land of Skyrim. I've met countless friends and watched most of them fall, yet I have persevered. You see, one such as myself doesn't need scars to show the horrors I have faced, all someone needs to do is look into my eyes and see the wisdom which is held within. If you have no honour, no wisdom, no power, no courage, you can't face these challenges, but if you have all the traits of a true warrior, one day you may fight in a glorious battle for freedom or a cause that you believe in. Though many challenges may be thrown at me, none of them will change who and what I am. A warrior.

**There it is... The ending of Challenges of a Warrior... :'( I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who viewed, gave me a favourite, followed this story and gave me a review. Thank you so much! Vilkas, Farkas, Aela and Emalia say a huge thank you too :P I know the ending might have been quite abrupt, but don't worry too much! I'm writing the next entry in the series, it will hopefully be longer than this fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it though, this is your first taste of my writing style! I hope you will like all the other things I have planned :) Bye bye for now!**


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